Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda has stated that he sees himself as a “sitting duck” for the F1 Monaco GP after qualifying in P12.
Tsunoda was knocked out in Q2 in Saturday’s qualifying session in Monaco, after he failed to set a lap fast enough to see him into the top 10. His teammate Max Verstappen did not seem to have the same issues with pace, as he qualified in P5. Both drivers of Racing Bulls, Tsunoda’s former team, also qualified higher than the Japanese driver.
This weekend is one of a number of instances where Tsunoda has struggled to reach Q3 since being promoted to Red Bull. And he has expressed little expectation of success for the Grand Prix proper on Sunday.
Tsunoda: Solid F1 Monaco GP weekend until today
Despite his qualifying woes, Tsunoda expressed that he had felt comfortable in the car so far this weekend. He finished within the top 10 during FP3 before qualifying, and placed just four thousandths of a second behind teammate Verstappen in FP2.
“Pace was there throughout the week, apart from the sessions that I always got in traffic or didn’t get a lap [in], I was running pretty close with Max, so that shows the pace was there, and the quali pace was there,” he said. “It was also a pretty clean race week until today. Very frustrating.”
Tsunoda expressed that his difficulties with the RB21 alleviated slightly this weekend, with some additional pace that put him alongside his teammate at times:
“The car was better. In FP3, I didn’t have any laps to run softs. But until then, even though I had quite a lot of flat spots with the medium compound, I was running very close with Max, so it was pretty good.”
Tsunoda predicts he’ll be a “sitting duck” during F1 Monaco GP
While Tsunoda seems to have dug up some confidence in the car this weekend, there isn’t much hope for a strong result during the race on Sunday. Instead, Red Bull will be preparing for a slog until the end.
“Every team, some teams in front are going to do some interesting stuff. I don’t think it’s going to be straightforward. I think it’s hard to predict as well. I’ll do my best,” Tsunoda said.
“I think, to be honest, in that position, you’re almost a sitting duck,” he added. “You’re sitting as a passenger, almost, to the car behind. I’ll try to overtake but obviously there’s always risk as well here, so if I see an opportunity, I’ll go for it.”
Indeed, with a new two-stop requirement introduced for the F1 Monaco GP in hopes of incentivising some hard racing, there is room for unpredictability:
“I think there’s opportunity,” Tsunoda said. “Strategy [with] two stops can be… I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’ll do my best.”
