Villeneuve: Tsunoda should be thankful for his career with Red Bull

Yuki Tsunoda moves into the organisation’s reserve role, and for Jacques Villeneuve, none of this comes as a surprise. The Japanese driver was no match for Verstappen, while Hadjar was impressive enough in his rookie season to get the nod from Red Bull F1 team boss Laurent Mekies and advisor Helmut Marko.

The 1997 World Champion said the outcome had been obvious for months. Villeneuve said: “We all knew that months ago. It’s not an announcement. Lawson was the last question mark. They were just waiting and waiting and waiting. Tsunoda knew it as well, you saw it with his demeanour.

"Even Honda were not really super positive about it," he added that “you could tell that the message had been passed,” and believes Tsunoda should view the end of his race seat as the natural conclusion to a successful run in the sport.

Villeneuve said: “Tsunoda should be happy, thankful that he’s had such a long and fruitful career in the first place. He got his chance, it did not work out. But he has made a big name for himself. He still has a long future in racing, and he will still earn a lot of money racing. He will go back, maybe to race in Japan. He is a star now in Japan and normally that will last forever. So he has made his name, he is fine.”

For Villeneuve, the challenge is not being Red Bull’s number two, but being paired with a generational driver. Villeneuve said: “It is not tough being number two at Red Bull, it is tough to be next to a driver of that calibre in Max.

"Like it was tough to be next to Senna, was tough to be next to Mansell, was tough to be next to Piquet, it was tough to be next to Prost, it was tough to be next to Schumacher. That is just the way it is. It has always been tough to be next to Alonso. He is one of those drivers.”

With Lindblad promoted directly into F1, Villeneuve warned that the jump from junior categories is notoriously difficult to predict. Villeneuve said: “We do not know enough about Arvid Lindblad. It is really hard to judge from Formula 2 as well. Some drivers are amazing in Formula 3, Formula 2 and useless in F1. Some others, they become better in F1, like Bearman, for example.”

He noted that Red Bull has long been willing to take big swings on young talent. Villeneuve said: “It is really hard to judge, but Red Bull has always been the kind of team or organisation that is willing to take the gamble and go for it. But then they are also happy to get rid of them. They do not keep them there forever. They are more of the attitude, we give you a chance, and if you are not good enough, you are out.”

Villeneuve believes that is how it should be at the elite level: “At the top level, that is the right attitude. The drivers who go into Red Bull know. They know the risk they are taking. They know they are getting a good chance, and then it is for them to make the most of it.”