Yuki Tsunoda set for surprise F1 return after beach call

Yuki Tsunoda has been called up to make a surprise return to Formula 1, filling the vacant seat left by Isack Hadjar’s wrist injury during the summer break.

Red Bull have drafted Liam Lawson from Racing Bulls to replace the injured Frenchman in their senior team, opening the door for Tsunoda to come back from reserve duties.

Arriving at the Zandvoort circuit, the Japanese driver explained that he received the unexpected call on Tuesday, while still on holiday in Greece.

“I was with my manager and also other friends in Greece, spending [time] together. I was on the beach,” he told the media.

“I wasn’t just hanging on the beach all the time [during the holiday] and I was still training and everything. But at the moment I received a call from my managers at the beach, [I was] pretty relaxed and watching the nice, beautiful ocean.

“I just suddenly got a call, ‘OK, you have to go to the UK.’ OK, I was in Greece [for] just 24 hours and you already want me to go to the UK?”

“I said, ‘Why?’ – ‘Maybe you might race this week.’ OK, that’s where I’m going [then]!”

Tsunoda has been Red Bull Racing’s official reserve driver this year since losing his race seat after the 2026 campaign. But with Lawson having more experience of F1’s new generation of cars, Red Bull decided to call up the New Zealander to its senior team instead.

For Tsunoda, it means a return to Racing Bulls, the squad he raced for from his F1 debut in 2021 until the spring of 2025, when he was promoted to Red Bull.

It will be his first F1 race since the 2025 Abu Dhabi GP, although he has completed testing in previous Red Bull cars this year alongside his simulator work.

“It was very unexpected,” he said. “I’m actually quite calm and looking forward to tomorrow. It was a moment I was waiting for and I was dying to have this kind of moment. Watching from the screen every race, I was feeling like I really want to be back and drive it.

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

“Physically and in terms of my mind, I think it’s sharp enough. I was training for almost every day for a long time. I have a lot of time to train because I didn’t have anything to do other than that.

“Also, I’ve done four TPCs and within that, I was doing five race [distances]. I’m pretty sharp and I had a good experience and good laps in those TPCs.”

Tsunoda admitted one of the biggest challenges this weekend will be adapting to the Racing Bulls car, as he has mainly been involved with the senior Red Bull squad this year – and only drove the Racing Bulls simulator for the first time this week.

“All I just need to do is to get used to this car, which I guess I feel quite a lot different. And the procedures, I guess, how to start and everything. I think having one free practice is going to be tricky, but that’s why I’m not setting any expectations. For now, I just enjoy and have fun, which I wanted to have for a long time.

“Honestly, Racing Bulls simulator, the first time I’ve done this [was] like literally yesterday [Wednesday]. So in terms of car understanding, I’m sure I have more in Red Bull. But in terms of steering switches and everything, I knew there’s not much difference from last year. So where to touch the switches and everything, which switch does what stuff, there’s not much difference.

“So yeah, it’s not like so far I’m having a lot of information from this team, but so far I’m not really feeling confusion or overwhelmed. Most of things are in the expectation and I think it will be a pretty smooth transition between Red Bull and Racing Bulls.”

It is still unclear whether Tsunoda’s Zandvoort appearance will be his only race of the year, with the timeline for Hadjar’s recovery not yet known publicly.

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