Yuki Tsunoda Struggles with Red Bull’s RB21 in Jeddah

In the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda qualified eighth, while his teammate Max Verstappen claimed pole. Despite not “struggling,” as Tsunoda put it, the recently-promoted Red Bull driver expressed concerns about the tricky handling of the RB21.

Tsunoda’s Difficulties with the RB21

After the session, Tsunoda shared his frustration over a massive snap he experienced in turn 4. “When I push more, this unpredictable snap keeps happening and it’s just really hard to reach the limit,” he told reporters.

Despite being more confident with the RB car over the past four seasons, Tsunoda found it challenging to find the limit with the current model. “I could squeeze out the last few seconds or milliseconds, but currently, it’s hard to find the limit so I’m really frustrated,” he added.

Tsunoda’s Adjustment Period with Red Bull

Promoted to Red Bull at the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix just three weeks ago, Tsunoda wants more time to adapt to the “unpredictable” RB21. “I wouldn’t say I’m struggling [against Verstappen] because it’s only the third race, but it’s really unpredictable so far… I still don’t know why I had that snap,” he explained.

Tsunoda also acknowledged the need to learn from Verstappen’s ability to set up and handle the car in various conditions. “Maybe I was too comfortable with the setup I had in free practice, which is when the track was in a bad condition. But when the track got better with these cold temperatures, maybe I have to think about it slightly more,” he noted, finding it harder to drive as the track rubbered in.

Tsunoda lamented that the difficulty increased as the track improved. “For me, it was worse when the track got better and better, so that’s the difficult part,” he said.