Yuki Tsunoda took his third top-10 Grand Prix finish as a Red Bull driver at Imola, but now heads for Monaco having only scored points in one prior trip to the Principality.
Monte Carlo has rarely seen the best of what the 25-year-old can achieve, as was the case at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at times after Tsunoda crashed in qualifying. He recovered to finish in P10 for a point at Imola last Sunday after Red Bull started Tsunoda in the pit lane.
The Monaco GP will be Tsunoda’s sixth race for Red Bull after replacing Liam Lawson in their driver line-up. But he has only finished three Grands Prix in the points for them and has also only taken points in a Monaco GP once, after claiming P8 in 2024 for RB (now Racing Bulls).
Tsunoda’s average finishing position at the Monaco GP to date is just P14 through four visits to the Principality for Red Bull’s junior squad. His average finishing position for the main Red Bull team to date in the 2025 F1 season since replacing Lawson in March is also only P10.25.
Red Bull have a ‘small worry’ that Yuki Tsunoda’s progress has ‘stagnated’ after his P10 finish at Imola
Red Bull are keen to stress they are adopting a patient approach with Tsunoda after finishing P12 in Japan, P9 in Bahrain and P10 in Miami and at Imola, while retiring in Saudi Arabia. Yet The Race reports Red Bull now boast a ‘small worry’ that Tsunoda’s progress has ‘stagnated’.
Fears have started to rise in Milton Keynes after Tsunoda crashed without posting a lap time in qualifying at Imola about the likelihood of the Japanese gem converting his potential into meaningful performances. His Q1 crash was only the start of Tsunoda’s issues last weekend.
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| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
279 |
| 2 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
147 |
| 3 |
Red Bull Racing |
131 |
| 4 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
114 |
| 5 |
Williams F1 Team |
51 |
| 6 |
Haas F1 Team |
20 |
Red Bull had to revert some of the parts on Tsunoda’s RB21 back to an older specification at Imola after running successful upgrades. He then struggled to make much progress through the field until a late safety car when Andrea Kimi Antonelli retired helped him to finish in P10.
So, Red Bull are losing patience with Tsunoda only scrapping to take the minor points-paying positions. But the Milton Keynes squad are not giving up on the Kanagawa native just yet as, while Red Bull want Tsunoda to prove their fears wrong ‘quickly’, he has had flashes of pace.
Red Bull want Yuki Tsunoda to prove their fears wrong and help Max Verstappen’s F1 title defence
Red Bull believe that Tsunoda proving his progress has not stagnated and achieving stronger Grand Prix finishes is important to help Max Verstappen retain the F1 drivers’ championship for a fifth straight year. The Dutchman trails Oscar Piastri by 22 points after winning at Imola.
No one at Red Bull expects Tsunoda to be close to Verstappen’s lap times, but they want him to at least be able to help the 27-year-old fight McLaren pair Piastri and Lando Norris. It was not the case as Tsunoda failed Red Bull’s request to hold Piastri up at Imola after his pit stop.
Tsunoda overcoming Red Bull’s fear that his progress has stagnated on the fringes of the top 10 could be huge for Verstappen’s title defence. McLaren will not use team orders favouring Piastri or Norris until one cannot win the title, but Verstappen is Red Bull’s clear No1 driver.
