Tsunoda's Downfall and Red Bull's Tough Decision
Oct.6 - Yuki Tsunoda's Red Bull future looks increasingly bleak after a disastrous Singapore weekend left the Japanese driver outside the points and lapped by his teammate.
Tsunoda, who had shown mild improvement since Monza, slumped to P12 after also qualifying outside the top 10 in what he admitted was a nightmare start.
"That was one of the worst opening laps of my life," he told Viaplay late on Sunday. "It's a huge shame, because in terms of speed, this was one of my best races during my Red Bull time. It's a real shame."
Former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde could hardly believe it. "Ouch! What a painful interview," he said on Viaplay. "He's completely lost.
"Firstly, he was lapped by his teammate. Secondly, he can say his pace was very good and that he was fast, but he was really very slow. Thirdly, that opening lap was also a disaster."
Even Red Bull simulator driver Rudy van Buren agreed the trend is worrying. "Things aren't going in the right direction," he said. "The results need to be there, and they're not there."
Van der Garde added that Tsunoda's struggles were now psychological as well as technical. "You can see it in his interview," he observed. "He doesn't know what to say or where to look. He's completely lost. He has no one to blame. He can only look in the mirror and say he's not good enough."
The 25-year-old, backed strongly by Honda, is now tipped for a reserve role at Aston Martin when the Japanese manufacturer joins the team in 2026.
3 F1 Fan comments on “Tsunoda's Downfall and Red Bull's Tough Decision”
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He's indeed lost & ran out of excuses.
Yes, he may have been able to show more pace in clean air, but ending up driving most of the race in traffic was all on him in the end, as was the Q2 elimination.
Simply zero reason to keep him in the Red Bull organization at all beyond this season's end, especially sporting-wise, not to mention all the cards have been looked at regarding his potential as an F1 driver, nor would any external factor justify still keeping him either.
To be fair mid-race Tsunoda was visibly ahead of MV for a few corners, just a shame it was a whole lap behind. Must be depressing within Tsunoda's pit team, I mean just what can you say that won't sound sarcastic.
MV might be happy with his usual crappy team mate, but RB should think of the long term as it's a situation that's holding half the team back.
I thought it was AN leaving that was hurting Rb, but it seems the design team didn't need him after all , i mean imagine being told by your pitwall to stay on track and just ignoring them to get a time penalty, you could almost say the drivers hurting the team, what a moby lol