How Tsunoda sacrificed his qualifying to help Verstappen to F1 Abu Dhabi GP pole

Yuki Tsunoda has explained how he gave Formula 1 title-contending team-mate Max Verstappen a tow for Abu Dhabi Grand Prix pole position – and will sacrifice his race too.

After his floor was damaged in a pitlane collision with Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli in final practice, Tsunoda moved back to an older specification and only just scraped through to Q3.

The Japanese driver took 15th in Q1, just 0.008s ahead of Lewis Hamilton, then 10th in Q2, merely 0.007s faster than Oliver Bearman, as the top 15 cars qualified within 0.367s.

“After that Antonelli collision, I had to revert back to the old floor, which, to be honest, cost my performance into qualifying,” Tsunoda commented. “So, I kind of expected it would be difficult to get through [to] Q3.

“Obviously going through Q3 and helping Max was the baseline plan. But at the same time, I was a little bit worried about that, with that spec. But I ultimately made it through.”

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images

This paved the way for his assisting role in Q3, when he gave Verstappen a tow, which helped the latter set pole by two tenths over his title rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Tsunoda opened up about how much pressure that represented: “Because I couldn't be very close into Turn 5, couldn't be very far. So it was very stressful, to be honest. But at least I was able to do it, and they gave me some compliments. I'll take it.”

“Yuki was incredible – the slipstream worked perfectly,” Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko told ServusTV. “So things are already looking better again.”

Having lost his Red Bull drive for 2026 as he is demoted to a test and reserve role with the team, Tsunoda has nothing to lose anymore and will play a tactical role as pitstops unfold.

This evokes memories of Sergio Perez who, in 2021, had his first pitstop delayed so that he could hinder virtual race leader Hamilton, costing the Mercedes racer seven seconds relative to Verstappen.

“I'll do as much as I can to help him,” Tsunoda affirmed. “Most likely, it would probably compromise my strategy, but with his position, how he ended up, there's still a chance to get a championship. So, I'll do as much as I can.”