Yuki Tsunoda's performances are still "not good enough", Red Bull Formula 1 boss Laurent Mekies has admitted, as the team closes in on finalising its 2026 driver line-up.
Tsunoda scored points in both the sprint - which he started 18th - and main races at the United States Grand Prix last weekend to match his best return of the season so far with eight points.
But while another combative start also helped him turn a disappointing 13th on the grid into a seventh-place finish in the grand prix - his second-best race result for Red Bull so far - Tsunoda still finished 52 seconds behind race-winning team-mate Max Verstappen.
He also qualified 0.765s slower than Verstappen - as Tsunoda's battle to find a balance between better one-lap pace and sustainable race pace continues.
When asked about Tsunoda's deficit to Verstappen in the race, Mekies said: "We always want more. I'm not going to tell you it's good enough because you are right in quoting your numbers.
"I'm not going to tell you that it's good enough, nobody feels like that, Yuki doesn't feel like that.
"All I'm saying is that it's two races in the points, it's two very good starts, it's two very good first laps, and it's a progression compared to what has been shown so far this year.
"Is it good enough? No, I would lie if I was telling you that - and more so Yuki would not be happy if I was telling you this is good enough."
Tsunoda felt he had been overcautious with managing his tyres in the second stint of the grand prix, which he said was partly because "it's currently hard to feel the limit" - so he does not know how much he can push on longer runs.
But he also suspected he was struggling with the bumpy track, and this weekend also continued the trend of Tsunoda looking competitive on initial runs on harder compounds but then failing to make the same progress as Verstappen - especially on softs.
"That extra grip is missing, which I should feel when I switch to softs," he said.
"When the compounds get softer and softer the delta is getting bigger and bigger. Suddenly on softs - eight tenths difference, or seven tenths.
"I'm not sure what's going on with that grip on the softs but it's something we're looking at."
There seemed to be an extra aggression about Tsunoda's opening laps at this race.
His big dive down the inside at Turn 1 in the sprint worked out well due to the chaos that unfolded up ahead, although he was lucky to get away with hitting the back of Isack Hadjar's Racing Bulls car in the process.
In the main race, his moves were brave but largely well-judged, although he did need Carlos Sainz's help to avoid a clash at the first corner on lap two of the race after a particularly optimistic dive.
What was more concerning was the speed thereafter. And the lack of a regular point-scoring second car, let alone one fighting at or near the front, is costing Red Bull in a tight fight for second in the constructors' championship.
That is why, for the second year running, Red Bull heads into the final part of the season pondering what to do with its line-up.
Tsunoda stepped into the seat from round three of 2025, replacing Liam Lawson - who lasted just two races after Sergio Perez was dropped at the end of 2024.
Red Bull is seriously considering another change - with rookie Hadjar increasingly likely to take Tsunoda's seat for 2026. But it does not want to repeat last year's problem where the situation was dragged out right to the end of the year and close to Christmas.
A suggestion from motorsport advisor Helmut Marko that a decision will be made around this weekend's Mexican GP is still understood to be the plan.
The problem with deciding early is whether that also means informing the drivers. Currently, Tsunoda is expected to complete the season. And Red Bull still needs him to help both the constructors' bid but also - if possible - get in the mix to assist Verstappen's drivers' championship quest.
"I think there is a role [for Tsunoda to play]," Mekies added.
"A, because there is still a constructors' championship discussion - obviously not for the win, but for the other aspects. So we need Yuki.
"And B, the faster Yuki is, the more we can split the tests across the car.
"We told you a couple of times this weekend - 'we test this with that car, we test this with the other car'.
"So it's important for us to have a very fast Yuki. And in terms of supporting situations and battling and strategy, it is also possible that with Yuki picking up, we can at some stage be in a position where we battle two against two."
While Tsunoda may soon be out of time to secure the Red Bull Racing seat, it is possible he will stay on the grid.
Red Bull may promote Arvid Lindblad to a Racing Bulls seat next year, although that is not yet confirmed. Lindblad's rookie Formula 2 season has been a race-winning one but he has also had some incidents and is only 18 years old.
There is an option for Red Bull to return the Racing Bulls line-up to Tsunoda and Lawson, who were team-mates in the final part of 2024.
The two drivers have a frosty relationship, though, with Tsunoda most recently complaining about Lawson during the US GP weekend.
And the most likely scenario is still that Red Bull picks one of Tsunoda or Lawson to partner Lindblad to give the team an experienced lead - even though both drivers had been promoted to the senior team and failed to lock down a long-term seat there.
