Yuki Tsunoda is under mounting pressure at Red Bull as he fights to secure his seat for 2026.

His performance in the upcoming Brazilian Grand Prix weekend will be key, but his start in the country hasn’t begun smoothly.

The Japanese driver has proven his worth over the past few years. In 2022, he matched the level of Pierre Gasly, and in 2023 he kept Nyck de Vries well at bay.

Even in 2024, he finished with more points than both Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson. Despite Lawson’s promotion to the Red Bull team—a move that stirred quite a bit of controversy—the pressure is now firmly on Tsunoda as 2026 approaches and no final decision has been made on his F1 future.

Tsunoda forgotten?

It’s critical for Tsunoda to close out the season on a strong note. However, his start in Brazil did little to inspire confidence, as it appeared the team had left him on his own.

A fan at Sao Paulo’s airport witnessed Tsunoda wandering the arrivals hall, seemingly unsure of where to go. For a long while, he struggled to find a team member or chauffeur to escort him to the hotel.

Tsunoda enters the weekend looking to try and add to his points tally of just 28 that leave him in 17th place in the constructors’ championship, while team-mate Max Verstappen is still looking to claim the title.

Tsunoda enjoyed a positive US Grand Prix where he finished in seventh place in the sprint and the race, but endured a worse performance last time out in Mexico when he could only finish in 11th.

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It’s the Tuesday before an F1 race weekend. Which means it’s time to project positivity on Lewis Hamilton’s Brazilian Grand Prix, before there is nothing left to hope for.

Hamilton’s absence from the F1 podium in 2025 has been well documented, particularly when he broke an unwanted record at the US GP. The Brit completed 19 races for Ferrari without stepping on the podium, eclipsing Didier Pironi’s record of 18 races which he held for 43 years.

While Hamilton came tantalisingly close to his first Ferrari podium at the Mexican GP, where he qualified third, a 10-second time penalty put an end to any hopes of a resurgence there and ended up in an unrepresentative eighth.

So, we look forward to Brazil as a chance for the champion to banish his Ferrari demons, and what a place it would be to do it! In front of a crowd who have historically adored him, and a nation he now has citizenship.

But, is it realistic to expect a podium from Hamilton at the Brazilian GP?

Ferrari have enjoyed a sudden upturn in performance at the US and Mexican grands prix, with Charles Leclerc finishing on the podium at both events, while Hamilton has edged closer to the result after a difficult year adjusting to his new team.

While there is no one single reason for this change, both Leclerc and Hamilton have praised Ferrari for their work behind the scenes in recent races.

Is a podium on the cards for Hamilton?

Speaking after qualifying in Mexico, Leclerc said: “I don’t think there’s a silver bullet or something that we’ve changed significantly that makes us a lot better now than three, four, five races ago. I think it’s a little bit everywhere.

“Like Lewis was saying, I think the processes and all the small differences make a big difference at the end, and we improved all that in the last few weekends.”

On the Thursday in Mexico, Hamilton also praised the team, and said: “In terms of the season, I think we’re seeing a lot of progress.

“Particularly on my side since the summer break. I think there’s been some small tweaks I have had to my approach and to the work that I’m doing. The guys have been making progress.

“I’ve been feeling much better in the car. And I feel like each weekend is getting better. It’s taken a long time to get to this point. But progress takes time.”

The Ferrari pair were scant on the details, but the past two races have paved the way for a more optimistic end to the F1 season for Ferrari. If this form continues and Hamilton remains comfortable with the car, there is no reason he cannot replicate his qualifying result in Mexico.

Even if he doesn’t, Interlagos has proven over the years that anything can happen. Hamilton himself only has to look at his comeback at the 2021 Brazilian GP, where he went from 10th on the grid to first place in the race, to remain in championship contention with Verstappen.

Granted, this was during a season where Hamilton was at his absolute best, fighting Verstappen for the world title in a car and team he was more comfortable with. Such resurgence may be difficult to repeat at Interlagos with Ferrari, but not impossible.

Verstappen himself also demonstrated last year that a recovery is possible, particularly if the weather comes into play. The Dutchman pulled off one of his greatest F1 victories, where he rocketed up the field from P17 to win the 2024 Brazilian GP, his first since June that year, as the levels of rain fluctuated.

Again a similar caveat must be applied. Verstappen achieved this race win in the prime of his career, where he was easily the best driver on the grid, even if Red Bull had suffered in performance that year.

Whether Hamilton can retrieve his wet weather skills of old in the SF-25 remains an entirely different matter. The point is however, if Hamilton is going to achieve a podium with Ferrari this year, Interlagos is the most realistic option left on the calendar left to do so.

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You know there’s two F1 drivers that I look at each race weekend and think ‘yes, they’re dead ringers for each other’. Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton.

I mean actually, they are incredibly similar, right? Both have that lost, deadpan stare after their team-mate has annihilated them in a race. They are both well spoken, calm individuals. They’ve both been to Australia…

Okay, you’ve rumbled me! I don’t actually believe Piastri and Hamilton are alike. Who could? One sweeps into the paddock every weekend with effortless style, while the other looks like an awkward teenager at a Mathletics final (I’ll let you decide which is which).

But one F1 fan’s mum apparently couldn’t tell the difference between the pair as TikTok user @norajooo shared the brilliant exchange with their mum on social media, which was captioned in line with a recent trend: “Sometimes you’ve just got to read your mom’s texts and go on about your day.”

The text exchange that then followed was about as typical from a mum as you can get. A strange, but entirely plausible question, started the messages from the mum, asking: “Who did we meet at Temu?”

A little vague yes, but mothers are often too busy to add every single little detail. Give them a break! Naturally, @norajooo then asked for further clarity, and that was when the responses became even more unhinged.

The messages read as follows:

“In Las Vegas.”

“Louis Hamilton?”

“Your driver?”

Louis Hamilton is the new Oscar Piastri

A simple Frenchification of Lewis Hamilton’s name could have been forgiven…if the fan had met him in the first place! No, instead the fan’s mum was tangled in a case of mistaken identity.

In the last slide of the TikTok, the fan shared a picture of her meeting Piastri at a Tumi luggage event, alongside the caption: “Anyways this was me with Louis Hamilton at Temu.”

I can relate to @norajoo. On many occasions, I have been on the receiving end of some strange, inaccurate request from my mum. My favourite typo of last week was: “Has she drained the abbess?”

I’ll let you join the dots about what is going on in my life at the moment.

It’s not just daughters of boomers, like me, that could resonate with the TikTok, with Lewis Hamilton himself gracing the comments section, with the simple but effective comment: “Real.”

Of course fans in the comments loved his response, with one even referring to his penalty at the Mexican GP as a reason for his social media presence, writing: “Lewis doomscrolling like the rest of us after THAT weekend.”

It’s good to know that despite how bleak things might appear on the race track, Hamilton can always count on his fans – and mums – to lift his spirits.

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