Yuki Tsunoda Responds to Max Verstappen’s Claims About the New F1 Cars

Yuki Tsunoda has played down Max Verstappen’s comments suggesting that driver skill has become less influential under Formula 1’s new 2026 regulations.

The Japanese driver, who spent last season as Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull, said he was not particularly concerned by the four-time world champion’s assessment of the new-generation cars. Instead, Tsunoda believes his recent performances should be judged on their own merits.

The two drivers had very different campaigns in 2025. Verstappen finished second in the championship, continuing to establish himself as one of the leading drivers of the modern Formula 1 era, while Tsunoda struggled to achieve consistent results and ended the season in 17th place.

As a result, Tsunoda lost his Red Bull race seat for the 2026 season, with Isack Hadjar taking his place.

Rather than disappearing from the Red Bull setup, however, Tsunoda remained involved with the team as its reserve driver. His opportunity to return to the grid came unexpectedly when Hadjar suffered a wrist injury during the summer break.

That injury resulted in Tsunoda being called up to compete for Racing Bulls, Red Bull’s sister team, beginning with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

He has since continued racing for the team at Monza and will once again be behind the wheel in Madrid this weekend.

Tsunoda’s return has been encouraging.

While his 2025 season was extremely difficult, he has shown signs of renewed confidence since being given another chance to compete. Liam Lawson has also impressed during his temporary spell at Red Bull, taking seventh place in the Netherlands.

Tsunoda, meanwhile, scored a championship point at Monza after narrowly missing out on points at Zandvoort.

Those performances have provided a positive boost for the Japanese driver, particularly after a season in which he found himself under considerable pressure.

Verstappen, however, has interpreted the recent results differently.

The Red Bull driver has been one of the most outspoken critics of Formula 1’s 2026 technical regulations. The new rules have introduced a significantly different approach to power management, with a much greater emphasis on electrical energy deployment.

Verstappen has argued that these changes have altered the role of the driver and reduced the influence that individual driving techniques can have on lap time.

The Dutchman has previously compared the new cars to “Formula E on steroids”, highlighting how heavily drivers must now focus on managing energy.

According to Verstappen, traditional characteristics that separate the very best drivers from the rest have become less important.

In previous generations of Formula 1 cars, a driver could gain significant time by braking later, getting back onto the throttle earlier and committing fully through high-speed corners.

The new regulations, in Verstappen’s view, require drivers to make compromises that would previously have seemed counterintuitive.

Instead of simply attacking every corner as quickly as possible, drivers may need to lift off, brake earlier or delay acceleration in order to conserve energy and achieve a higher speed later in the lap.

Verstappen believes this has changed the fundamental driving experience.

He also pointed to the performances of Lawson and Tsunoda as examples of how quickly drivers can adapt to the new cars.

Both men had struggled alongside Verstappen previously, but they immediately looked competitive when given opportunities with different machinery under the 2026 regulations.

Verstappen suggested that this demonstrated how much less sensitive the new cars are to differences in driver input.

The Dutchman stressed that the fastest drivers would still ultimately perform well, but argued that their advantage had been reduced.

In his view, the regulations effectively place a limit on how much a driver can influence the performance of the car.

Tsunoda, however, does not appear interested in engaging in a debate with his former teammate.

Asked about Verstappen’s comments in Madrid, Tsunoda responded in a relaxed manner, essentially dismissing the need to read too much into them.

He explained that he had seen Verstappen’s remarks but had not spent much time analyzing them.

For Tsunoda, the fact that the 2026 cars behave differently is obvious. The energy management systems and deployment strategies have fundamentally changed the way drivers approach certain parts of a lap.

He acknowledged that there are corners where a driver cannot simply push at maximum intensity because energy considerations have to be taken into account.

Tsunoda said he had personally experienced this at Monza.

Nevertheless, he does not believe Verstappen’s comments should change how he evaluates his own performances.

The Racing Bulls driver emphasized that his recent results should be considered independently rather than being used as part of a wider argument about the influence of drivers under the new regulations.

For Tsunoda, the important thing is that he has returned to the cockpit and performed well.

After a difficult 2025 campaign, scoring a point at Monza and remaining competitive represents a positive step forward.

He appears determined to focus on that rather than allowing Verstappen’s opinion to undermine his confidence.

The debate over the 2026 regulations, however, is unlikely to disappear.

Several races have already produced situations in which energy management has played an unusually large role in determining overtaking opportunities and race strategy.

At Suzuka, for example, Lando Norris was placed in a situation where energy considerations affected his attempt to overtake Lewis Hamilton.

There have also been concerns at Spa, where McLaren highlighted the influence of what it described as self-learning elements within the power unit.

Such examples have strengthened Verstappen’s argument that the new generation of Formula 1 cars places greater emphasis on technical and energy-management considerations.

The fundamental change comes from the balance between the internal combustion engine and the electrical component of the power unit.

Drivers must now constantly think about where and when to deploy electrical energy, how to recover it and how to preserve enough power for key moments.

This can make racecraft considerably more complicated.

A driver might deliberately sacrifice performance in one corner to gain an advantage several corners later.

For Verstappen, that compromises the traditional idea of attacking every section of the circuit as aggressively as possible.

He believes the best drivers remain the best, but the regulations prevent them from expressing their full ability as freely as they once could.

Tsunoda does not necessarily disagree that the cars require a different approach. However, his response suggests that he is not interested in using the regulations as an explanation for his own performances.

Instead, he appears satisfied with how he has handled his unexpected return to Formula 1 competition.

The Japanese driver entered the season without a full-time race seat after losing his position at Red Bull, meaning his current opportunity is particularly valuable.

His performances for Racing Bulls could potentially influence his future within the Red Bull system or elsewhere on the Formula 1 grid.

The fact that he has immediately shown competitive pace will therefore be encouraging for Tsunoda.

His teammate Lawson has similarly benefited from his opportunity at Red Bull, making the situation even more interesting for the wider Red Bull driver programme.

Both drivers struggled during their previous experiences alongside Verstappen, yet both have demonstrated improved competitiveness under different circumstances.

That does not necessarily prove that the 2026 regulations have reduced the importance of driver ability.

It may simply demonstrate how dramatically different cars, environments and levels of confidence can affect a driver’s performance.

Tsunoda appears to prefer that interpretation.

Rather than becoming distracted by Verstappen’s criticism of the regulations, he is focusing on what he can control: extracting the maximum possible performance from his Racing Bulls car.

His recent results have given him reason to be optimistic.

The next few races will reveal whether his improved form can continue and whether he can turn his temporary opportunity into something more permanent.

For now, Tsunoda’s message is straightforward.

The 2026 cars are clearly different, and energy management has become a major part of the challenge. But he does not intend to use Verstappen’s comments as a measure of his own achievements.

After enduring a difficult season and losing his Red Bull seat, Tsunoda has been given another opportunity to prove himself.

His recent performances suggest that he is making the most of it.

Whether the new regulations truly reduce the impact of driver skill remains one of the biggest debates of the 2026 season.

Verstappen clearly believes they do.

Tsunoda, meanwhile, appears content to let his results speak for themselves.