Tsunoda baffled by Red Bull pace after finishing last in F1 Austrian GP

Yuki Tsunoda was left baffled by the pace of his Red Bull Formula 1 car after finishing last on the road in the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver finished last of the runners after starting 18th, a Q1 exit which added to a poor run of form for the 25-year-old.

Tsunoda has now completed eight grands prix for Red Bull after joining from sister outfit Racing Bulls earlier this year, and has scored just seven points for the Austrian outfit and is well off his world champion team-mate Max Verstappen.

“The pace itself was pretty poor,” said Tsunoda of his race at the Red Bull Ring. “I'm not sure what I'm doing completely wrong, to be honest.

“But the pace delta between the level I have to be in is massive. But at the same time, obviously, I'm working hard to find the reason what's causing the issue.

"Even with seeing the data going through, it's hard to find, even compared to the engineers, it's really hard to find in terms of driving style difference with Max. Maybe I'll have to find from a different kind of view, but for now, it's hard to find the reasons, but I'll have to find it anyway."

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing Team 

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

"It's not like the car is bad,” he added. “But especially the first few laps, it feels amazing. The thing is, I feel like the tyre is just melting lap by lap, corner by corner. Whatever I do, it's melting every lap, and I'm feeling less grip lap by lap.

"In that situation, it's really hard to maintain the pace. I've tried multiple stops in this grand prix. It's not working, really, so it's hard to find the reasons."

Tsunoda’s race was made worse by a 10s penalty after he collided into Franco Colapinto’s Alpine at Turn 4.

"The collision with Franco is my bad, obviously," said Tsunoda. "The situation I was in, I think, was quite a poor move. I must send apologies to the team, how I ended up."