Red Bull in “awkward position” as Yuki Tsunoda points to “limitation”

Red Bull and Yuki Tsunoda are each in “awkward” positions, David Coulthard insists.

Tsunoda is the latest under-pressure teammate of Max Verstappen’s to struggle to get near his performances.

Last weekend at the F1 Spanish Grand Prix, Tsunoda qualified last on the grid, roughly half-a-second slower than his esteemed teammate.

“Normally the gap that Yuki had to Max was not unacceptable,” ex-Red Bull driver Coulthard said to Channel 4 after qualifying in Barcelona.

“But it’s so close in Formula 1. He was last. That’s a real awkward position for Red Bull to be in, and really awkward for Yuki.

“I can imagine he’d be going ‘can I have a transfer back to the Racing Bulls!’

“Because that car is looking like a more comfortable car for the driver to exploit.”

Yuki Tsunoda struggled at F1 Spanish Grand Prix

Tsunoda got his long-awaited promotion into the Red Bull team from their sister squad at the expense of Liam Lawson, after two grands prix this season.

Lawson’s time as Verstappen’s teammate lasted just two races but his replacement Tsunoda is now struggling too.

Tsunoda pointed to a “core limitation” of the RB21 last weekend after qualifying last on the grid in Spain.

“Suddenly it drops like hell,” he described about his car’s performance.

Tsunoda was able to finish P13 but a point-less outing is not what Red Bull will want from their No2 driver.

However, even Verstappen is unable to consistently extract the type of performance which Red Bull have grown accustomed to in the past three years.

He lags 49 points behind Oscar Piastri who tops the F1 standings.

Red Bull are fourth in the constructors’ behind McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.

That isn’t aided by Tsunoda’s inability to bring home points at each of the past two rounds.

It is a streak which he must swiftly address because Red Bull’s patience is notoriously thin.