In his Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda made it into the third part of Qualifying in the Saudi Arabian GP. Promoted from the sister team to Red Bull, Tsunoda raced for the first time in his RB21 in front of his home crowd in Suzuka. In a car that is mainly tailored to his teammate Max Verstappen, Tsunoda is still struggling.
A frustrated Tsunoda reflected on an unpredictable battle with the car.
“I had a massive snap in turn 4 […]. When I push more, it’s just an unpredictable snap that keeps happening. It’s really hard to know which way is the limit or what not.
“That’s why when it comes to Q3, when it all counts, you push hard, and you know the way and the limit. You might squeeze in a few milliseconds, but currently it’s just hard to find the limit. You’re just getting all the time messy laps, so it’s really frustrating for that.”
Sector 1 proves punishing
The first sector of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit can pose a serious threat to drivers lacking confidence. Tsunoda attested to the difficulty of the opening corners: “Exactly. The lap I lost there, it was quite a lot. I mean, obviously not 9 tenths, but it’s not a small lap time I lost there. It’s just really frustrating for that.”
A car that feels less his own
While teammate Max Verstappen appears increasingly at ease in the RB21, Tsunoda is still trying to find his footing: “It went worse and worse for me.”
Tsunoda speculated that setup differences between his car and Verstappen’s may have contributed to his struggles.
“I don’t know, maybe there’s a bit of a set-up difference there. Maybe I adjust too much in the free practice condition when the track is quite green.
In that point, the lap time is pretty okay, but when the track is getting grippier, you just start to have a limit. So, I think that’s the main learning I had, I guess.”
Reliability and predictability remain elusive
Tsunoda, only in his third race with Red Bull, admitted that the car still feels inconsistent and difficult to read.
“But also, this kind of limit currently, I wouldn’t say struggling […]. It’s not like a 10th race or a 20th race, it’s still a third race. But it’s hard to find a limit and put it all together from the start. It’s really unpredictable so far.”
Crash setback and Qualifying recovery
Tsunoda suffered a late-session crash in the second free practice, clipping the inside of the wall at the final corner. The Japanese driver bounced back in Qualifying and built-up confidence again. Yet, he confessed that the car’s pace is far from ideal and remains cautious about race pace.
“To be honest, the set-up also was not really good in the short run. Actually, more towards the long run. I have slightly more confidence than the pace I had in FP2.
“But we didn’t have great pace, to be honest, in the long run. So, it won’t be an easy race tomorrow, but at least I want to get one control.”
Tsunoda was still confused about the incomprehensible issues he faced in the session, hoping to address the problem promptly: “I don’t know if it’s the warm-up or just… The snap I had, I don’t know why. I have to check what’s happened there.”
Set-up struggles in changing conditions
The cooler qualifying conditions compared to the hotter practice sessions added another layer of complexity for Tsunoda. He believes this temperature shift may have impacted the car’s performance and balance.
“Maybe because I feel too much comfortable with the set-up I had in free practice, which is when the track is in bad condition. When the track got better with this cold temperature, maybe I have to think about maybe being a bit more nervous and have to drive in the green track”.
With very distinct driving style, Tsunoda and Verstappen responded differently to the driving conditions. While Verstappen thrives in the car, securing a pole position for Red Bull at the Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying, Tsunoda struggles to adapt.
“But maybe Max [Verstappen], maybe through the qualifying, the condition coming towards him. For me, it went worse and worse when the track got better and better, so that’s the difficult part.”
