Tsunoda Scores His First Point Since Losing His Red Bull Seat, But Will He Still Be Racing in Madrid?
Amid all the drama up front at Monza, one of the weekend's quieter but genuinely feel-good stories belonged to Yuki Tsunoda, who crossed the line in 10th place to score his first point since being dropped from Red Bull's race lineup at the end of last season.
Tsunoda has spent 2026 as reserve driver for both Red Bull-owned teams, watching from the sidelines.That changed when Hadjar picked up a wrist injury ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix. Red Bull's response was to promote Lawson to partner Max Verstappen at the senior team, which in turn opened the door for Tsunoda to step back into a race seat at Racing Bulls for the first time since losing his own Red Bull drive.
His first outing back, at Zandvoort, ended agonisingly in 11th, just outside the points. With Hadjar still not fit to return, Tsunoda got a second chance at Monza, arriving with a race weekend already under his belt and more preparation time than the rushed call-up in the Netherlands had allowed.
It did not start smoothly. Tsunoda's qualifying session was disrupted by a fuel leak on his Racing Bulls car, and he was eliminated in Q1, leaving him well down the order for Sunday. But a chaotic, red-flag-interrupted race gave him a route back through the field, and by the chequered flag he had worked his way up to exactly the final points-paying position, crossing the line in P10 to open his personal account for this stretch of the season.
Speaking before Monza, Tsunoda admitted that being pulled back in to cover for Lawson has effectively put his own future on hold, with talks about a possible seat elsewhere for 2027 parked while he focuses on making the most of these unexpected opportunities. A point on Sunday will do his case no harm at all.
The bigger question now is what comes next. Hadjar's recovery is described as encouraging, but it is still not confirmed whether he will be fit to return for next weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, which marks the debut of Madrid's new Madring circuit. If Hadjar is passed fit, Lawson returns to Racing Bulls and Tsunoda's stand-in run ends. If not, Tsunoda could find himself lining up in Madrid too.
So the question hanging over Faenza this week is a simple one: will Yuki Tsunoda be on the grid for the first-ever Spanish Grand Prix at Madring, or was Monza his last race for a while?