Red Bull chief admits Yuki Tsunoda is failing to do one thing that’s ‘even more’ important than scoring points

Yuki Tsunoda endured back-to-back woeful Grands Prix in Monaco and Spain, as even Nico Hulkenberg scored 10 points while the Red Bull racer went home empty-handed.

Sauber star Hulkenberg came fifth in the Spanish GP on Sunday, when Fernando Alonso also took the Aston Martin racer’s first point of 2025 in P10. Tsunoda could only finish P13 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after Red Bull started him in the pit lane after qualifying P20.

Tsunoda had also finished the Monaco GP in just P17 after qualifying P12. Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson, Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon, Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly have outscored Tsunoda in the past two rounds, as well, after sealing 14, four, six, two, one and four points respectively.

Even after the 25-year-old took P10 in the Emilia Romagna GP for his most recent point, Red Bull worry Tsunoda’s progress has stagnated after he also crashed in qualifying at Imola. The Japanese gem’s drive is also now at risk, with question marks over Tsunoda’s Red Bull future.

Pierre Wache admits Yuki Tsunoda is not giving Red Bull enough with his performance deficit to Max Verstappen

Yet even above his failure to earn any points in Monte Carlo or Montmelo, Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache now admits that Tsunoda is not offering the team from Milton Keynes enough with his performance deficit to Max Verstappen too much to help develop the RB21.

Team principal Christian Horner claimed Tsunoda’s ability to help develop Red Bull’s car was key to him replacing Lawson in March. Yet the Kanagawa native has not managed to lap near Verstappen’s pace, with Tsunoda 0.54s and 0.587s slower in qualifying in Monaco and Spain.

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“It’s difficult,” Wache told RacingNews365. “We are a team and problems are part of it. We are rewarded for the team championship.

“It’s very important to have a second driver performing well. As a technical [department], it’s important to have two drivers giving feedback and views. Even more if they operate close to each other, it’s even better for us at the top.

“At the moment, it’s not what we have. We have to try and help Yuki as much as possible, like we did in the past. We didn’t manage with Checo [and] we didn’t manage with Liam. With Yuki, we are trying.”

Yuki Tsunoda cannot use having Red Bull’s older specification parts as an excuse

Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko has noted that the team feel Tsunoda lost two to three tenths of a second to Verstappen in Spain as he has their older specification parts after his qualifying crash at Imola. But he still would have sat P14 in Q1, when Verstappen was P2.

The Japanese ace also cannot use having their older specification parts due to his own fault as an excuse as Red Bull want Tsunoda to stop trying to copy Verstappen’s driving style. The team feel Tsunoda would benefit just by using his normal style after qualifying P20 in Spain.

Tsunoda is yet to out-qualify Verstappen in any session since replacing Lawson at Red Bull in March, as well. His average deficit over a single lap in qualifying for a Grand Prix to the four-time reigning drivers’ champion now sits at 0.692s, as well, while Lawson was 0.913s slower.