Nico Rosberg saddened by what he’s seeing from Canadian Grand Prix struggler who could be out of F1 in 2026

Yuki Tsunoda will start the Canadian Grand Prix from the back of the grid after picking up a 10-place grid penalty. Even without the sanction, he’d only be 11th.

The stewards announced during qualifying that Tsunoda had received a heavy punishment for overtaking under red flags in the final practice session. The incident occurred after McLaren driver Oscar Piastri hit the wall at the final corner.

Tsunoda passed a hobbling Piastri, claiming that he was worried about picking up debris from the McLaren. But the officials are extremely strict on red-flag infringements due to the possible safety risks, and they felt his explanation was insufficient.

The Japanese driver lapped a tenth slower than former Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar, which saw him miss the Q3 cut. He was nearly half a second adrift of teammate Max Verstappen.

Nico Rosberg says Yuki Tsunoda is in a ‘horrible’ position at Red Bull

There were signs before Canadian Grand Prix qualifying that Tsunoda was going to struggle. He was last in final practice, albeit after a technical issue.

After finishing Friday’s running 15th, he was looking forward to receiving upgrades overnight. Tsunoda has been running an older spec at Red Bull ever since his heavy crash in qualifying at Imola.

But even with the same parts as Verstappen, Tsunoda’s poor run of form continued. It’s now four races since he reached Q3.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ pre-session coverage, Nico Rosberg expressed sympathy for the 25-year-old.

“I really feel for him,” Rosberg said. It’s horrible. It’s such a difficult situation to be in because he’s a great driver, and yet he just cannot get anywhere near Max Verstappen. It’s very tough.”

Yuki Tsunoda set to miss Helmut Marko’s big target at the Canadian Grand Prix

Tsunoda is out of contract at the end of the season, and while he’s received assurances that he’ll see out the 24-race calendar – far from a given at Red Bull – he looks unlikely to earn a renewal at this stage.

Indeed, a report this week claimed that Red Bull are set to drop Tsunoda for 2026 and promote Hadjar instead. Liam Lawson and teenager Arvid Lindblad would then represent the sister team.

Elsewhere, only Alpine and Mercedes have potential vacancies for next year. Neither of those look like realistic destinations for Tsunoda, which means he risks dropping out of F1 altogether.

Coming into the weekend, Helmut Marko tasked Tsunoda with scoring points. That looks like a tall order from the back of the grid.