Yuki Tsunoda’s F1 career “hanging by a thread” in brutal assessment

Yuki Tsunoda’s F1 career is “hanging by a thread” following a difficult Austrian Grand Prix.

Tsunoda finished 16th and last of the classified finishers in Sunday’s race at the Red Bull Ring.

The Japanese driver was the only driver to be lapped twice on a torrid day for Red Bull.

Tsunoda also felt the brunt of F1’s stewards, picking up a 10-second time penalty for colliding with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto.

Like his predecessor, Liam Lawson, Tsunoda has struggled to get to grips with the RB21.

Tsunoda’s best result since joining Red Bull was ninth in Bahrain, and following the Austrian GP, he now sits behind Lawson in the drivers’ standings.

The weekend was one to forget for Red Bull.

Max Verstappen suffered his first DNF of the year after he was taken out of the race by Kimi Antonelli on the opening lap.

As a result, Red Bull boss Christian Horner has declared that they’re no longer thinking about this year’s world championship.

Verstappen had hoped to become just the second driver in F1 history to win five straight drivers’ titles.

Tsunoda’s F1 future in doubt

According to reputable BBC F1 journalist Andrew Benson, Tsunoda’s career is in jeopardy.

While it’s unlikely Tsunoda’s immediate future at Red Bull is under threat, his chances of staying on for next year look very slim.

Tsunoda was overlooked initially by Red Bull as they opted for Lawson instead.

Speaking after the race in Austria on the BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast, Benson expressed doubts over whether Tsunoda would remain on the grid, even outside the Red Bull stable.

“I think we should say something about Tsunoda, he had a terrible, terrible day,” Benson said.

“Verstappen, out of the first lap, third corner, Red Bull needed Tsunoda to have a strong race. OK, he had a bad qualifying; he was actually only two-tenths off  Verstappen in Q1, but that was the difference between seventh place and 18th, I think it was.

“But he drove like he’d been in Formula 1 for five minutes, not five years.

“He had two collisions, and the second one that he got a 10-second penalty for with Franco Colapinto was very clumsy and ended up finishing last.

“This is a guy whose Formula 1 career is hanging by a thread at the moment, and it doesn’t look like to me that he’s going to carry on beyond the end of this year.”