Red Bull has admitted that Yuki Tsunoda’s compromised race at Monza robbed the team of vital data in its ongoing evaluation for the 2026 Formula 1 driver line-up.
The Japanese driver was unable to capitalize on his momentum from Zandvoort, where he returned to the points, as a mid-race clash with Liam Lawson crushed his chances of a top-10 finish in Italy.
On Lap 29, Lawson went for a move on the man who replaced him at Red Bull through the Variante della Roggia chicane. The two cars touched wheels, and although the stewards declared it a racing incident, the contact inflicted severe floor damage on Tsunoda’s car. That crippled his pace and left him limping home in a dismal 13th place.
Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies didn’t point fingers directly but admitted that the moment effectively killed Tsunoda’s race.
“So it was compromised because we’ve seen the damage and we’ve seen the performance loss,” Mekies told reporters.
“So we knew the race was probably over at that moment. Now the simple truth is that I have not reviewed the video yet. I spoke with Yuki at length but didn’t have a chance to review fully. We will do that with Yuki, and we’ll try to draw the right conclusions.”
Red Bull Sees Where Tsunoda Still Falls Short
Tsunoda had done well to reach Q3 at Monza and started ninth on the grid. But he quickly lost ground to Lewis Hamilton and rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli during the opening stint.
Later, he dropped another spot in the pit stop cycle to Oliver Bearman’s Haas, leaving him exposed to Lawson’s attack.
Mekies admitted the pattern is clear: Tsunoda has been closer to Max Verstappen in qualifying, but much weaker in the races.
“Today was a poor sample. You know how it is. The races at the front are very clean. You get at least a good stint to read your performance. Here, it’s very difficult to get anything out of today. First stint in traffic, second stint with the car damage. If I look back at the last couple of races, it’s quite similar. I think it is correct to say that we probably have more work to do on the race pace with Yuki.”
Tsunoda Showing Progress Despite Setback
Despite the disappointment, Mekies insists Tsunoda’s qualifying pace is a genuine sign of progress.
“The same as the new guys. Quali pace, race pace. That’s what we look at. It’s as simple as that,” Mekies said when asked how Red Bull evaluates him.
“Today’s race for Yuki is difficult to read because of the traffic in the first stint, damage in the second stint. But I look at yesterday’s qualifying. I still qualify it as a good weekend. He was two tenths from Max in Q1; Max was not exactly slow this weekend. And with a small deficit from the car, he was two tenths from Max in Q2. There is no doubt everybody is pushing 100 percent in Q2. And yes, the gap was bigger in Q3. But first, he put the car in Q3, which is a very good performance. And second, he was first on the road in Q3, which didn’t help as well. So I think, short-run pace, it was a very good sample for Yuki. Long-run pace, it’s frustrating not to have clean race data.”
Equal Machinery Coming for Baku
Mekies also revealed that Red Bull aims to field equal-spec cars at the next round in Baku, after Verstappen’s car ran with an upgraded floor at Monza.
“We are fully transparent. We had a floor upgrade on Max’s car. We think there are no small updates anymore because everything is small anyway. So it’s a small update. We are hoping to have it on both cars for the next race. And we think it works OK, yeah.”
For Tsunoda, Monza was a harsh reminder of how fine the margins are at Red Bull — and how every lap counts in the fight to secure a seat for 2026.
