Yuki Tsunoda experienced another difficult weekend at the F1 Spanish GP, where he finished outside the points.
After qualifying last, Red Bull opted to make changes to Tsunoda’s car, which prompted a pit-lane start for the Japanese driver.
While Tsunoda was able to gain places to finish the race in P13, he noted that the pace was not quite where they wanted it to be.
Despite the car not being quite there, the 25-year-old believes he had the pace to score points in the Spanish GP.
“Unfortunately, not really.
“I mean, I already felt it from the lap to the grid.
“But yeah, fortunately, we were able to make a step that’s the level that we want.
“In the last step, the car didn’t help to be honest, until then.
“Even though the pace was not the level that we were looking at.
“Compared to midfield, it was alright, and there was potential to score points today.
“So yeah, that was a little bit of a shame.”
Tsunoda notes that while the set-up changes might have improved the car, to him, it didn’t feel that different.
“Yeah, I mean, probably it was better.
“At least something that we can learn.
“I appreciate the team that flew back with me and tried to support me with that kind of change of setups.
“But yeah, it just didn’t really feel much different.”
Looking ahead to the Canadian GP
Following a challenging weekend at the Spanish GP, Tsunoda stated that he is working with the team to make further adjustments ahead of the next round in Canada.
“Something that we are planning for Canada.
“The things that we would like to try.
“I’m happy that they fully agree with that and make the effort to give me something that I want to try.”
Pressed on whether he could expand on what he and Red Bull had planned for Canada, Tsunoda replied:
“I am sorry. I can’t say.”
Work ahead in between rounds in Spain and Canada
During the break between the Spanish GP and the upcoming round in Canada, Tsunoda will head back to Milton Keynes to work on the car.
Tsunoda is excited about the changes planned for the upcoming race, hoping they will lead to an improvement.
Though he admits that after his experience in the Spanish GP, it can only get better.
“There’s something that we’ve got to try.
“I’m quite excited for it.
“That will hopefully make something different.
“And I mean, it can’t get worse than this weekend, to be honest.
“So it should be.”
The trip to Milton Keynes will include work in the Red Bull simulator, which Tsunoda says is more beneficial for the team than for him.
Nevertheless, there is a possibility of finding a setup that better suits his driving style.
“The simulator itself is more, not perspective, it’s more towards the team.
“To something that we want to try in the track that, you know, such a limited time anyway.
“We can’t obviously try every setup.
“So, the things that we want to explore around.
“With that said, maybe my engineering can find a good trend or good characteristics.
“It suits my driving style, whatever.
“But in my perspective, it’s more towards the team and engineering.”
Aiming to reach Verstappen’s level
The Spanish GP marked Tsunoda’s seventh race for the main team after switching seats with Liam Lawson after the opening rounds.
Since then, Tsunoda has experienced ups and downs, with the weekend in Spain a particular low point.
Overall, the Red Bull driver is happy with the pace, noting that on some occasions he is on par with teammate Max Verstappen.
However, Tsunoda admits that he needs to make further steps to reach the level of his teammate.
“To be honest, this Grand Prix for me is a bit special.
“It’s a Grand Prix that it feels weird and doesn’t feel right at all.
“So, I’m not really thinking anything much about this Grand Prix.
“Apart from this, it’s up and down, but at least I’m happy with the pace I’m showing.
“I’m showing a couple of sessions and there wasn’t much drivers in the past.
“Some sessions, even, you know, I started faster than Max.
“Obviously, to be at his level, I need a lot of steps improvement.
“But at least some sessions that I’m able to match with him.”
Tsunoda says he is now able to extract more from the car, but is not able to extract the maximum potential.
He points to not fully trusting the car yet as a limiting factor, especially when comparing his times to those of Verstappen.
“For sure, in qualifying, in the last few tenths, I’ve been able to extract more.
“So now, especially track evolution, track, whatever, even within the qualifying, the track condition changed.
“With that, I’m still trying to find limits.
“Although in the previous car, in the vehicle, obviously, I know what’s happening in the background, how the car looks like.
“I can push that out, but, you know, not fully trusting yet about the car yet.
“Obviously, it’s kind of normal.
“That few milliseconds, few tenths is quite important.
“So those things, for sure, he’s extracting more of it now.”
