Helmut Marko accidentally proved why Red Bull must replace Yuki Tsunoda while giving excuse for Spanish Grand Prix woes

Yuki Tsunoda could only finish the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix in 13th place after starting from the pit lane, to fail to score a point for the third time since his step up to Red Bull.

The 25-year-old sealed the promotion he craved in March as Red Bull decided Liam Lawson would not adapt to the RB21 to help Max Verstappen to retain the F1 drivers’ championship. But Tsunoda is now in the same boat, having only scored seven points in the past six rounds.

Tsunoda has also now finished the same number of Grands Prix in the points as he has failed to since leaving Racing Bulls for Red Bull. Yet, in the same period, his former teammate Isack Hadjar has taken his rookie tally to 21 points and sits ninth in the 2025 F1 drivers’ standings.

The 20-year-old took seventh in the Spanish GP for six points, helped partly by Verstappen’s penalty for driving into George Russell which demoted the Dutchman to P10. Tsunoda could not also benefit after finishing 16.996 seconds off Verstappen before his 10-second penalty.

Helmut Marko claims Yuki Tsunoda lost three tenths to Max Verstappen with Red Bull’s older floor in Spain

Red Bull have also seen Tsunoda slump to 15th in the standings and his plight is partly down to the Japanese driver’s mistakes. He does not have the exact same specification of parts as Verstappen after Tsunoda destroyed the floor of his Red Bull crashing in qualifying at Imola.

Motorsport adviser Helmut Marko has now noted that the differences between his car and Verstappen’s Red Bull at the Spanish GP cost Tsunoda circa two to three tenths of a second per lap. Red Bull even changed Tsunoda’s set-up after setting the slowest time in qualifying.

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“It must be said that he did not have the same technical specifications in Barcelona because of his serious accident at Imola,” Marko noted, via quotes by Formule1.nl. “In terms of the car alone, he has to give up two to three tenths.”

Tsunoda asked Red Bull to check his floor during qualifying for the Spanish GP after the 25-year-old felt he may have sustained damage after his first Q1 run. He went on to finish 20th and last with a 1:13.385 lap, 0.587s slower than Verstappen penned to finish Q1 in second.

Helmut Marko just proved why Red Bull must now replace Yuki Tsunoda in the 2025 season

While Marko has used Tsunoda’s older-spec floor as an excuse for why he failed to score any points again in the Spanish GP, it also proves why Red Bull must now replace him. Even with three-tenths taken off his Q1 lap time, Tsunoda would still have only finished P14 last week.

His plight at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya also comes after Red Bull have developed a fear that Tsunoda’s progress has stagnated. Additionally, his old Racing Bulls teammate has earned support to move up, as Marko admits Hadjar could be a ‘contender’ to join Red Bull.

Red Bull want Tsunoda to see out the 2025 F1 season at the team from Milton Keynes. But it is no longer a guarantee that the Japanese driver will stay in his seat, as Red Bull will replace Tsunoda if he has a disastrous run of form even if they have few options to step in mid-year.