Yuki Tsunoda has been struggling since his promotion to Pink Bull Racing, selecting up simply 9 factors since making the step-up. The Japanese driver is now below strain, and Helmut Marko has named the Mexican Grand Prix on the finish of October as a reference level – which means the following three race weekends will probably be ‘essential’, in line with Tsunoda.
Isack Hadjar at present stands on pole-position for promotion to the senior staff in 2026 and Tsunoda himself didn’t rule out a return to Racing Bulls whereas chatting with the media forward of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
He is aware of the principle space of enchancment: race tempo. Tsunoda has made progress on Saturdays and managed to achieve Q3 in Monza – which Pink Bull expects of him – however over a full race distance the state of affairs appears rather more worrying. The image is considerably the other of a lot of Max Verstappen’s earlier team-mates: Sergio Perez struggled extra on Saturdays in comparison with the four-time world champion, whereas the hole in race tempo was (barely) smaller than over a single flying lap.
“I have to give attention to the lengthy runs, particularly for now,” the Pink Bull racer defined in Baku. “In Monza, I had a bit of injury, however as a staff we additionally work onerous to grasp what’s the principle concern inflicting the long term tempo. The issues that we expertise are issues that even the staff cannot actually clarify. That is the principle factor.
Yuki Tsunoda, Pink Bull Racing Staff, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Picture by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Pictures
“When it comes to the brief runs, I am very pleased with it. I feel the staff could be very pleased as properly. It is clear that I am exhibiting race by race that I am getting near Max, regardless that there’s bundle distinction,” Tsunoda factors out, referring to the truth that he needed to drive with an older ground specification in most races. “I used to be constantly two tenths behind Max in qualifying, other than Q3. I feel that is undoubtedly exhibiting properly and undoubtedly folks within the staff are noticing this.”
Three tenths per lap in harm at Monza
Sundays, nonetheless, typically inform a really completely different story, as was the case in Monza – the place he completed eighty seconds behind race winner Verstappen, harm included.
“What I heard is that the harm was lower than three tenths per lap, however as I stated, we have been struggling anyway. Myself, I used to be battling the issues that even the staff could not clarify, and we tried to kind out these points,” Tsunoda added.
The problems pressured Tsunoda to experiment with set-up greater than he would have preferred.
“We needed to type of treatment these issues with the stability, which was not preferrred as a result of I used to be pleased with the stability we had,” he stated. “However someway the tyres have been carrying like loopy. Till FP3, what we tried was to seek out out what should be blamed for the tyre put on concern, however we could not discover it, so we simply needed to alter the stability. In a manner I did not like that, and clearly it was simply taking a lot efficiency from the automobile.”
That instantly explains why Tsunoda can nonetheless be moderately aggressive over one lap – when he can absolutely exploit the Pirelli tyres – however has huge issue holding the tyres alive over a full stint.
“I am simply missing within the lengthy runs. We’re working actually onerous, each from my aspect and in addition from the staff’s aspect, to place every thing collectively within the lengthy runs. Possibly there are some issues that you may’t clarify, however I strive loads of issues to make it work and revel in this course of.”
