Tsunoda Demands Answers from Red Bull After Las Vegas Qualifying Disaster

Short Excerpt: Yuki Tsunoda, left stranded in Q1 by an admitted Red Bull error at Vegas, is demanding a real explanation after his race weekend was derailed by a tyre pressure blunder and ongoing team silence.

Yuki Tsunoda has publicly expressed mounting frustration with Red Bull Racing after a critical team mistake left him qualifying 19th for the Las Vegas Grand Prix and—days later—still searching for clear explanations. The Japanese driver suffered one of his toughest weekends of the year, as an admitted “big mistake” in tyre pressure settings destroyed his chances in Q1, transforming a promising weekend into a nightmare.

A PROMISING START, A SHOCKING END

Tsunoda’s Las Vegas weekend began on a high, featuring his third-fastest time in opening practice—performing even better than Max Verstappen. But as Saturday night qualifying arrived, disaster struck:

• Red Bull failed to adjust his tyre pressures for the cold, wet, low-grip conditions
• The resulting lack of grip—described by Tsunoda as “driving on ice”—left him three seconds off the pace and utterly confused
• “We made quite big mistakes with his tyre pressures, which meant that he was out there with a setting that basically gave him no chance to be competitive,” acknowledged team boss Laurent Mekies

TSUNODA STILL WAITING FOR ANSWERS

Days after the Grand Prix, Tsunoda has told reporters he still hasn’t received a satisfying explanation from the team—nor clarity on why such a fundamental oversight went uncorrected:

He added: “My grip level was the worst I have experienced since joining F1 in 2021,” he said. Tsunoda was bewildered to be over three seconds off the next slowest car’s pace, despite normally being a strong wet-weather driver.

CRITICAL ERROR: TYRE PRESSURE SETTINGS

The crux of the issue was Red Bull’s failure to lower Tsunoda’s tyre pressures—an essential adjustment in the cold, damp conditions. Properly set, tyre pressures govern the car’s grip, temperature management, and general stability. For Tsunoda, the mis-set tyres were catastrophic:

TEAM TAKES THE BLAME, BUT SILENCE REMAINS

Team principal Laurent Mekies and Red Bull management immediately admitted fault:

“We made quite big mistakes with his tyre pressures. These things obviously should not happen. Apologies to Yuki—he was in a good rhythm all weekend, and it’s really painful to take this chance away from him.”
— Laurent Mekies, Red Bull Team Principal

But for Tsunoda, the apology is no substitute for a technical debrief and answers as to how or why such a basic failure occurred—especially so soon after similar errors earlier in the year.

A PATTERN OF FRUSTRATION?

Las Vegas is not the first time this season Tsunoda has been left asking for explanations from Red Bull after questionable decisions in qualifying, fueling speculation about internal communication and prioritization within the team.

LOOKING AHEAD

As the F1 calendar closes in on its final rounds, Tsunoda is adamant that he needs more than apologies—he wants clarity to avoid repeating such mistakes and to end the season with renewed confidence in his team’s preparation.