Yuki Tsunoda puzzled over slow performances in Red Bull Racing

09:31, 31 May

byNorberto Mujica

Yuki Tsunoda has been experiencing disappointing times with the Red Bull Racing team to date. Yesterday, during the first and second free practice, the Japanese driver had a difficult day. In the first practice, he was six-tenths short compared to Max Verstappen, and in the second practice, the difference was the same. The Japanese driver commented on F1TV.

A sliding Red Bull without grip for Tsunoda

The Japanese driver complained over the radio about his Red Bull sliding all over the Barcelona track in the second practice session, highlighting the unusual nature of the lack of grip he was experiencing. After the Friday's activities had ended, he looked back and was clear.

‘’I felt pretty smooth. Myself, I think I made progress, FP1 and FP2. To be honest, I just don't have any idea why I am slow. It's not like fully 100% but obviously it's not the gap that I was expecting at least.’’

''So it's hard to even tell like what kind of exact limitation I have. In terms of balance it's okay so we have to see what we can improve but currently [I'm] pretty [much] struggling.''

The Japanese driver, clearly at a loss as to where te issues lie, predicted a long Friday evening ahead for his side of the garage.

‘’Hopefully we can find something. Otherwise it's really tough, honestly. It's not like I had a massive mistake. If I had a mistake and without results I'm happy actually but it's not like that so probably it'll be longer night than usual. I [will] try my best to find the solution.’’

Max Verstappen is driving the upgraded Red Bull, Tsunoda isn't

On the other side of the Red Bull garage, though, a strong result can be anticipated with Verstappen finishing both practice sessions in P2 and P3 respectively. Earlier, GPblog reported that Yuki Tsunoda drives with a different specification of the Red Bull compared to Max Verstappen. Helmut Marko indicated that this was due to Tsunoda's crash during the Grand Prix of Imola.