Yuki Tsunoda would have wished for a much happier end to his first Japanese Grand Prix as a Red Bull Racing driver.
Red Bull decided off the back of the first two race weekends that a change to their driver line-up for needed.
Liam Lawson complained about the balance of his car after the race in China, but didn’t have to worry about that going into the Japanese Grand Prix as he was driving Racing Bulls’ impressive 2025 machine.
Unfortunately for Lawson, despite outqualifying Yuki Tsunoda, his race at Suzuka didn’t go to plan and he ended up finishing P17.
It means that after three race weekends, Lawson is only above the under pressure Jack Doohan and rookie Gabriel Bortoleto in the drivers’ championship.
Tsunoda initially targeted a podium in Japan when he discovered he was going to be Max Verstappen’s next teammate.
By the time he was knocked out in the second part of qualifying, he would have been well aware that his expectations were going to need to be tempered heading into Sunday’s race.
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Yuki Tsunoda’s worrying final radio message at the Japanese Grand Prix
Tsunoda faced a difficult task on Sunday, knowing he needed to make up at least four positions to score his first points as a Red Bull driver.
Suzuka is one of the narrowest circuits on the calendar, and with only one DRS zone, making up positions was always going to be tricky.
After initially overtaking Lawson, Tsunoda only made up one more position when Pierre Gasly had a slow pit stop.
At the end of the race, Tsunoda simply said on the team radio: “I just have to be better in Qualifying, that’s it!”
Your votes are in! 🗳️
It’s Yuki Tsunoda who is @salesforce Driver of the Day at the Japanese Grand Prix 🇯🇵#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/vjjFCDeQb4
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 6, 2025
It’s an admission of defeat from the 24-year-old who had to watch as his less experienced previous teammate Isack Hadjar produced the best performance of his short F1 career.
Hadjar was able to fight with Lewis Hamilton and while he didn’t come out on top, the Frenchman now has his first four points as a Formula 1 driver.
After the race, Tsunoda said: “I’m happy with the race, in terms of my performance, obviously, in terms of the result, it’s quite tough, especially for a home Grand Prix.
“I was definitely expecting more, and I at least wanted to finish in the points. So, it’s a mixed feeling.”
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Yuki Tsunoda already dealing with the same problems as Liam Lawson after the Japanese Grand Prix
One of the biggest problems Lawson faced during his two races at Red Bull was his inability to get the tyres into the right temperature zone over one lap in qualifying.
The New Zealander never advanced beyond Q1, although he did sneak into the second session at Suzuka in his new Racing Bulls car.
Tsunoda had looked fast in free practice and comfortably advanced to Q2, but once that session began, and was then interrupted by a fire on the side of the circuit, his preparations were terminally disrupted.
After qualifying, Tsunoda admitted in his official press conference: “There’s some frustration today. I think the warmup didn’t go as I wanted for that final lap, and it was pretty messy, especially in the first sector.
Simply Suzuka 💪🌸
Max takes home an incredible win, and Yuki puts in a solid performance to finish in P12 🤝
Result 🏁: Max 🫶, NOR, PIA, LEC, RUS, ANT, HAM, HAD, ALB, BEA #F1 || #JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/eUbRUciQAx
— Oracle Red Bull Racing | オラクル・レッドブルレーシング (@redbullracing) April 6, 2025
“We are still learning, and I thought the warmup was ok and we would maybe be a little compromised, but the penalty was pretty big.
“I thought we would be able to build from Q1, but that wasn’t the case.”
Tsunoda gained some valuable experience in Japan, even if he didn’t score the points – or the podium – that he desired.
He’ll have fewer excuses about missing out on a top 10 finish next weekend in Bahrain, with the track much better suited to overtaking.
If he struggles there, then Red Bull will be panicking about how to continue for the rest of the year.
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