Red Bull ERUPTS in Flames During Yuki Tsunoda’s Dramatic Return!

Yuki Tsunoda's Red Bull show run RB7 erupts in flames as he performs some donuts in the San Francisco street.

Red Bull ERUPTS in Flames During Yuki Tsunoda’s Dramatic Return!

Yuki Tsunoda's Red Bull show car catching fire in San Francisco (via @grandprix/Instagram)

In Short
  • Yuki Tsunoda's return to motorsport was marred by a fire incident during a Red Bull demo show in San Francisco.
  • The RB7 car Tsunoda was driving caught fire, but he managed to exit safely as the safety crew responded quickly.
  • Alan Permane hinted at Tsunoda's potential return to racing in the 2026 season, where he will also support the team in simulator work.

Yuki Tsunoda suffered from a disappointing end to his Formula 1 career. Tsunoda partnered up with Max Verstappen at Red Bull and couldn’t live up to the expectations. As such, the Japanese driver remained seatless following the culmination of the 2025 season. Now, disaster struck in a recent demo show in San Francisco for the 25-year-old.

Yuki Tsunoda made his first public appearance following his exit from Formula 1 back in 2025. The Japanese driver was part of a Red Bull demo show. Tsunoda piloted the iconic championship-winning RB7 challenger from the 2011 season. The Japanese driver decided to go off in style and pull off some donuts as the fans erupted from the stands.

It was truly a spectacle to witness, and it was somewhat reminiscent of Sebastian Vettel‘s championship-winning campaign back in 2011. However, it ended in disaster as fire struck and engulfed the RB7 challenger. Yuki Tsunoda remained calm and steered clear of the car and stepped out of it immediately. The 25-year-old was then brought to safety as the safety crew rushed in to douse the fire from the iconic challenger.

Notably, this isn’t the first time that Yuki Tsunoda has undergone such a scary experience. Back in 2024, while driving a 2012-spec Red Bull demo car in Taiwan, a similar fire incident took place. Apart from this, the RB7 challenger has suffered from such issues before as well. Hence, the team must look into the incident seriously and ensure driver safety above all, as it could quickly escalate and turn things from bad to worse.

Yuki Tsunoda could return to the grid as soon as the 2026 season

Certainly, Yuki Tsunoda was met with a massive challenge at Red Bull in their already problematic state. Given the team’s condition at the time, Tsunoda was unable to perform well and ultimately had to leave the team. Now he serves as a reserve driver for Racing Bulls, where he raced for the majority of his career. Now, RB’s team principal Alan Permane hints at a potential return for the Japanese driver on the grid soon.

Yuki Tsunoda and Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)
Yuki Tsunoda and Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)

Alan Permane assured the people that Yuki Tsunoda would show up and participate in Friday test sessions, but probably in one car. Permane revealed that Tsunoda’s main work at Racing Bulls remained on the simulator side of things. The team principal continued that it was fantastic to have someone as talented and experienced as the Japanese driver helping the team excel under the new regulations.

He will do some Fridays – I’m not sure in both cars or just ours – but he will feature in FP1 running. But a lot of his work will be simulator support for us. That’s really fantastic for us to have someone of his calibre helping us over a race weekend, driving our simulator.

Alan Permane said, as reported by RacingNews365.

The 2026 season is right around the corner. Many teams have already started on development and are taking in learnings following the first pre-season test. For now, Tsunoda will watch from the sidelines as the teams aim to start the season on the best possible note.

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