Yuki Tsunoda faced a third point-less race for Red Bull after crashing in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix until a late safety car helped him claim P10 at Imola.
Race control opted to interrupt the Emilia Romagna GP with a full safety car on Lap 46 of 63 after Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli retired. His stricken car had to be moved up to Piratella, as Esteban Ocon’s Haas had already been moved to Tosa under a virtual safety car.
Tsunoda was only running in P12 until Antonelli retired from the Emilia Romagna GP due to a throttle issue, having crashed in qualifying at Imola last Saturday and had to start from the pit lane. He later passed Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg at the restart on L54 for P10 and one point.
The 25-year-old had to start the Emilia Romagna GP from the pits after Red Bull replaced the survival cell on his RB21. Tsunoda did not sleep after his qualifying crash at Imola, too, after hitting the wall at speed having taken too much of the entry kerb for the Villeneuve chicane.
Yuki Tsunoda’s disappointing time at Imola showed he ‘still’ lacks confidence to push Red Bull’s car
Tsunoda admitted he ‘tried to be a hero’ on his first flying lap in Q1 and it resulted in a high-speed crash. But Marc Surer feels the Japanese ace ‘still’ lacks confidence in Red Bull’s car, so he cannot extract its full potential like Lucas Auer believes Max Verstappen is capable of.
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Verstappen won the Emilia Romagna GP after catching McLaren rival Oscar Piastri napping into the Tamburello chicane at the start of Sunday’s race at Imola. He also ran off to win the seventh round of the 2025 F1 season unchallenged after qualifying 0.034s off pole position.
“He likes a car with a lot of front axle,” Aurer told F1-Insider. “This makes the rear unstable, unpleasant to drive. But if you can do that, you’re brutally fast. Max takes it to a new level.”
Yet while Verstappen can dance his RB21 when the rear-end slides, Surer thinks Tsunoda is ‘still’ lacking the confidence to push Red Bull’s car to the limits. So, while he has enjoyed an occasionally promising start at the team, the Kanagawa native is far off his teammate’s pace.
“He’s coping better with Max’s set-up than many before him,” Surer told F1 Insider. “But he still lacks consistency and confidence in the car.”
Yuki Tsunoda is starting F1 Grands Prix 10.2 places behind Max Verstappen on average
The Emilia Romagna GP was Tsunoda’s fifth race for Red Bull since replacing Liam Lawson in March. It also yielded his third points-paying finish for the team from Milton Keynes, yet his Grand Prix finishes have so far only been P9 in Bahrain plus P10 in Miami and now at Imola.
No one at Red Bull expects Tsunoda to get close to Verstappen’s lap times, but he has been 0.756 seconds slower than the four-time reigning F1 champion on average in qualifying. He has also finished 9.2 spots behind the Dutchman on average since they became teammates.
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| CATEGORY | PEREZ (2024) | LAWSON (2025) | TSUNODA (2025) |
| Average Grand Prix qualifying pace deficit to Verstappen | 0.770s | 0.913s | 0.756s |
| Average Grand Prix qualifying position deficit to Verstappen | 6.3 | 15.5 | 10.2 |
| Average Grand Prix time distance deficit to Verstappen | 43.3s | 81.147s | 32.497s |
| Average Grand Prix position deficit to Verstappen | 4.8 | 10.5 | 9.2 |
So, while Red Bull’s motorsport adviser Helmut Marko liked Tsunoda’s race at Imola but not his crash in qualifying, his qualifying problems are forcing the Japanese pilot to race with an arm behind his back. Only once he feels confident to push his RB21 will the big results come.
Even before his qualifying crash at Imola on Saturday, Jacques Villeneuve claimed Tsunoda should be worried that Red Bull may replace him with Isack Hadjar. The French rookie keeps impressing with Racing Bulls, for whom he was P9 at Imola for his third points-paying finish.
