Audi’s introduction to Formula 1 for the 2026 season is exciting for the sport but they appear to be changing their mind on their preferred driver line-up on a weekly basis.
Nico Hulkenberg has already signed up to drive for the German manufacturer next year when they’ll still officially be known as Sauber.
Writing on his blog after the Monaco Grand Prix, journalist Joe Saward has shared what he heard in the paddock about the newest driver at the top of their list of options.
Audi know that this is the moment to try and get a driver pairing embedded in the team before their arrival on the grid and the new regulations being introduced in 2026.
There are also plenty of drivers approaching the end of their current contracts due to the grid remaining exactly the same over the last winter break.
It now appears as though one of the most in-form drivers on the grid – Yuki Tsunoda – is at the top of Audi’s list of drivers to join Hulkenberg at Sauber next year.
The Japanese driver may have never taken a pole position or even finished on the podium, but he’s proving that he’s the real deal in a middle-of-the-pack car.
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Yuki Tsunoda now ‘top of the list’ for Audi ahead of the 2025 F1 season
Very few Formula 1 fans would have predicted that Yuki Tsunoda would be the driver to watch heading into this season.
The newly-named Visa Cash App RB team had high hopes coming into the campaign due to their closer ties with Red Bull away from the track.
However, it was expected that his teammate Daniel Ricciardo would be the man to watch given his wealth of experience and he was even predicted to challenge for podium finishes.
Instead, the Australian has struggled in comparison to Tsunoda and has watched on as the 24-year-old has scored the majority of the team’s points.
Both drivers are technically out of contract at the end of the year with Liam Lawson looming in the garage at every race weekend as a reminder that he’s expected to be in the car in 2025.
It means that either one driver has to move on to another team – with joining Max Verstappen in the senior Red Bull team less and less likely given their preference for Sergio Perez – or leave the sport entirely.
Audi sense an opportunity to hire Tsunoda at the peak of his form and have put him at the top of their list of candidates.
That may be a blow to several other drivers on the grid looking for a way out of their current manufacturers.
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Yuki Tsunoda having a dream start to the 2024 F1 season
Assessing the driver market, Saward said: “If [Esteban] Ocon goes to Haas, there is still an Audi seat available and while keeping [Valtteri] Bottas or Zhou [Guanyu] might be an option, the whisper on the Monaco waterfront was that Yuki Tsunoda is now top of the list of the German manufacturer.
“Red Bull has an option to keep Yuki, but the relationship between Red Bull and Honda is coming to an end and Honda cannot offer Yuki a ride in 2026 unless either Lance Stroll or Fernando Alonso decide to leave Aston Martin.
“Red Bull needs to fit five drivers into four seats if it wants to hold on to Liam Lawson and while Daniel Ricciardo has been a little disappointing this year, he would still be a good yardstick by which to measure young Lawson.
“The alternative would be to drop Riccardo and have Yuki and Lawson, or keep the same two and leave Lawson out. This was the thinking in Monaco.”
Who else is on Audi’s shortlist for 2025?
Sauber in its current form is not a particularly appealing team to sign for given that they’re the only manufacturer without a point this season.
However, Audi will be a works team and have had plenty of success in the other series that they’ve raced in.
Audi may have put Tsunoda at the top of their list which suggests that they have less faith in signing Carlos Sainz.
The Ferrari driver will be a free agent but has plenty of options for next year.
Esteban Ocon’s time at Alpine looks set to come to an end and he’s another driver Audi are looking at.
It’ll be fascinating to see if Tsunoda finally leaves the Red Bull family and what knock-on effects on the rest of the grid that could have.
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