Red Bull has issued an apology to Yuki Tsunoda following a challenging qualifying at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The chaotic, cold, and low-grip session left the Japanese driver starting nineteenth, a result that drew attention especially given Max Verstappen‘s second-place qualifying performance. The Red Bull team chose to take full responsibility for the situation, with team principal Laurent Mekies openly acknowledging an internal mistake.
“We made rather significant errors with the tire pressures. These are things that shouldn’t happen. We apologize to Yuki: he had good pace throughout the weekend, and it hurts to take this opportunity away from him,” Laurent Mekies said.
Yuki Tsunoda, visibly disoriented after his Q1 elimination, described the track in the most direct way possible: “I am three seconds slower than anyone else. I was literally driving on ice, so I don’t know what happened. We didn’t expect to use full wets. Visibility was terrible, and the grip was the worst I’ve ever seen since I’ve been in F1.”
The costly error and missed opportunity weigh heavily, especially as Yuki Tsunoda had shown promising pace in practice sessions. A Q1 like this could have favored him as an outsider, but instead, he will start from the penultimate row alongside Lewis Hamilton. Red Bull made it clear that the responsibility lies with the team, not the driver. Yuki Tsunoda will now need to fight back through the field, while Red Bull must ensure that such errors are not repeated in the future.
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