Yuki Tsunoda has been struggling since he replaced Liam Lawson at Red Bull. The Japanese driver has only scored seven points in his six races following the promotion. It has got worse for Tsunoda since the European leg began, with the 25-year-old failing to make Q3 in Imola, Monaco and Barcelona.
Yuki is already being questioned by Red Bull bosses on whether he is the right fit for the team. However, teammate Max Verstappen has jumped in to defend Tsunoda, saying the team should look at the car instead of the Japanese racer.
Max Verstappen defends Yuki Tsunoda
Yuki Tsunoda has had a string of poor qualifying results in the last three races. In Imola, he crashed out on his opening gambit in Q1. In Monaco, he couldn’t make it past the second session on Saturday. And in Barcelona, Yuki was the slowest driver on track. This led to Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko questioning Tsunoda.
Speaking to Sky Sports Germany, Marko said: “The performance is disappointing. He was relatively close to Max on Friday. And now in qualifying nothing worked at all. And to finish last – even if the car isn’t entirely identical [to Verstappen’s] – is something we need to question internally.”
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However, four-time world champion Max Verstappen believes that Tsunoda is not the problem. He claims that the second Red Bull seat has always had issues, regardless of who is in the car.
He said: “He’s not a pancake, right? When he was in those Racing Bulls, he always looked good compared to Hadjar. Of course it’s been going on for a long time. Maybe that’s also a sign.”
Tsunoda has struggled since joining Red Bull for round 3 in Japan. However, the second car has always been a problem, with Liam Lawson and Sergio Perez both struggling too. This is due to the car being designed and upgraded for Verstappen, as he is the likely challenger for the title. Tsunoda must adapt or could possibly find himself out of the team.
Red Bull admits to a setup mistake which cost Yuki Tsunoda in qualifying
Yuki Tsunoda looked competitive on Friday, meaning the direction the team went with setting up his car was wrong. This was confirmed by Red Bull’s technical director, Pierre Wache.
He said after qualifying, “To be honest, we tried something different. Trying a bigger rear wing to see if that would give us performance. It was a mistake on our part.”
Tsunoda, who qualified last on the grid, will now start the Spanish GP from the pit lane after the team changed the setup and specification of the rear wing. This will help Yuki avoid any turn 1 drama and also have more speed with the correct rear wing and better setup options. But how far through the field can the Japanese driver make it? Comment below and let us know.
