'Not a pancake’ - Max Verstappen defends Yuki Tsunoda after qualifying shocker

Max Verstappen has leapt to the defence of Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda following his qualifying shocker at the F1 Spanish Grand Prix.

While Verstappen qualified third behind the McLaren pair, teammate Tsunoda was eliminated in the first part of qualifying with the slowest time, leaving him 20th and last on the grid for Sunday’s grand prix.

Four-time world champion Verstappen backed his latest Red Bull teammate, telling Dutch media he “isn’t a pancake”.

‘Pannenkoek’ (pancake) is a Dutch insult used to describe someone who is incompetent or useless.

Tsunoda is Verstappen’s second teammate this season, having been promoted from Red Bull’s sister team Racing Bulls to replace Liam Lawson, who lasted just two races alongside the Dutchman.

Verstappen says Tsunoda’s ongoing struggles highlights just how difficult Red Bull’s RB21 is to drive.

“When he was in those Racing Bulls, he always looked good compared to Hadjar. But yeah, it is what it is,” Verstappen said.

“Of course it’s been going on for a long time. Maybe that's a sign. Of what? That you can decide yourself.”

Yuki Tsunoda has ‘no idea’ why he was so slow

Tsunoda conceded he had “no idea why I’m slow”, explaining that “something strange was happening” relating to the grip levels he felt.

"Suddenly compared to any other Grand Prix I lost performance quite significantly,” he said.

"Since FP1, the amount of grip I had was very low. Something strange was happening.

"We tried our best to cure the issue but, to be honest, whatever we did, we made a better balance but it was not, overall, a step forward.

"The lap I had in Q1 I was pretty happy with it, the confidence was there but the grip itself is not following at all. It's a pretty tough situation.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: "Yuki has struggled all weekend.

"We went up a little on the downforce to try and help him but it's difficult to understand, we will need to have a look at it."