Yuki Tsunoda’s struggles to make an impression at Red Bull Racing continued in Barcelona as he qualified in a disastrous P20 on a day when team mate Max Verstappen was pushing the McLarens in third.
Tsunoda noted after Friday practice that he didn’t know why he was slow, and after Q1 he told the team that he’d done a “clean lap”, which made his lack of pace even more of a mystery.
It’s not what he needed after his huge Q1 crash in Imola (where he at least had a good run to 10th in the race) and a lowly 17th place – with a strategy that didn’t play out – in Monaco.
“Straight away from FP1 first push I said on the radio that’s something feels not right,” he said when I asked about his session. “And it’s not really matching to my expectation of how I feel in a car in terms of grip level overall.
“And obviously we tried to solve that issue throughout the week, but just especially when you’re limited by overall grip, whatever we changed setups, it just made a bit of like plaster feeling, it’s not able to cure the core limitation, which I had. So it’s a shame.”
Tsunoda insisted that the team had tried everything to resolve his issues.
“I don’t think it’s set up, because to be honest, we tried almost every setup,” he said. “There’s obviously some preference a bit there and there, and I think I’m still convinced that we were able to at least put it all together in terms of the car balance.
“And like I said, car balance itself is not bad. And at least also my confidence was there. The lap in qualifying on both tyres, especially last push, was pretty good. So doesn’t really stack up with my results, and with the pace I’m having.”
Although it didn’t show in the results there were times over the Monaco weekend where despite a tricky car he showed good pace, and he concedes that he’s slipped back.
“Until previous Grand Prix, especially until Monaco, I was having good progress throughout and last Grand Prix, some sessions I was matching or faster than Max, and suddenly it drops like hell.
“And whatever I do, every lap, even like a long run was good example, just whatever I do, nothing happens.
“And it feels like this car is eating the tyres like hell, having degradation massively. It doesn’t really stack up. I think the core limitation is still there, and I don’t know what it is, and I can’t really have any answer for that.
“The previous Grands Prix the team were same page with me, how I think, as well I think pace was really there. Monaco qualifying was a shame, with the red flag and everything.
“But at least, I’ve shown pace and I heard multiple times from the team that it’s been a while that the second driver has been able to match Max, or being faster.
“So they were happy, but this Grand Prix somehow it just drops massively for whatever reason, and I’m not able to show my performance, which is a shame. And yeah, it’s something that for this Grand Prix is something I feel really, really strange. A mystery.”
Adam Cooper F1 