Red Bull chief explains how they made a ‘mistake’ with Yuki Tsunoda at Spanish Grand Prix

It was a difficult weekend for Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda after he finished outside of the points for the second consecutive race.

The Japanese driver was left baffled after qualifying when his performance was only good enough for last place on the grid.

It was six tenths behind teammate Max Verstappen, despite the Dutchman completing a lap earlier in the session when the track was slower.

Tsunoda’s plight continued into the race when Red Bull elected to start him from the pit lane, with him making little progress at the start and eventually finishing in 13th despite a late Safety Car.

Discussing their decisions before the race, Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache admitted that the team had made a ‘mistake’ with Tsunoda’s car when speaking to Shiga Sports Japan.

Pierre Wache says Red Bull made a mistake with Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull

Red Bull elected to change the rear wing specification on Tsunoda’s car before the race under parc ferme, which was the reason for the pit lane start.

Wache admitted that the rear wing Tsunoda used in qualifying was not the same as the one used by Verstappen, who was topping the speed traps during the race.

“We’ve tried something very different than before. We tried to try a larger rear wing and see if I could perform in the preliminary round. This is our mistake,” said Wache.

“We plan to install new items on the underfloor of Tsunoda. Due to the damage suffered from the crash in Imola, it is difficult to produce results, and they are struggling. I hope they are ready for Tsunoda in Montreal.”

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Yuki Tsunoda finding out how hard Red Bull RB21 is to drive like Liam Lawson

Tsunoda’s disappointing results come after a difficult start for Red Bull to the 2025 season, after they replaced Liam Lawson following just two races with the Japanese driver.

He was supposed to be an improvement, but so far, Tsunoda has produced similar results to Lawson on track with minimal impact on Red Bull’s Constructors’ Championship chances.

Speaking after his Q1 elimination in Spain, Verstappen believes Tsunoda is now finding out how hard the RB21 is to drive like Lawson did in his first two races.

Tsunoda’s average qualifying deficit is around 0.7s, which is similar to Sergio Perez’s last season, however, the Mexican had scored 100 more points by the same stage of the season.