New Red Bull boss apologises to Yuki Tsunoda after pit call blunder costs him points finish

New Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has apologised to Yuki Tsunoda after they called him into the pit lane too late at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Tsunoda finished Sunday’s race at Spa-Francorchamps in 13th, over a minute off the race lead.

The Japanese driver ran inside the top 10, having secured his best qualifying result for Red Bull.

However, a late call into the pits cost Tsunoda track position.

It meant Tsunoda spent nearly 30 laps behind former teammate Pierre Gasly in the battle for 11th.

Gasly was promoted to 10th after Sauber called in Nico Hulkenberg for a 10th stop.

Tsunoda lost out to Ollie Bearman and Hulkenberg in the closing laps.

Speaking after the race, Mekies apologised to Tsunoda for the error.

“For Yuki, it was our mistake,” Mekies admitted to media including Crash.net. “We wanted to pit him on the same lap as Max, and everything was ready, the crew was out, everything was ready to get both cars, and we simply called him too late.

“So it's on us, unfortunately, and one lap made a big difference today, so he lost, I think, three or four positions, which ultimately stopped his fight for the points.”

Mekies acknowledged Tsunoda’s strong qualifying performance, with Red Bull finally giving him the upgraded floor in a last-minute decision after the sprint race.

“He did a very strong qualifying yesterday,” Mekies added to F1 TV. “We upgraded the car just before qualifying but it’s so difficult to adat with new conditions in a qualifying session like that. He did a very, very strong job, so I’m very happy for him.

“Today he had the right pace as well and he was certainly up for some good points, but that’s how it went. So we take the good step forward this weekend and hopefully we carry on in Budapest.”

Mekies reflects on Verstappen’s race

On the other side of the Red Bull garage, Max Verstappen narrowly missed out on a podium finish.

The Dutchman finished fourth, as he was unable to overtake Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen’s pace on the intermediates was superior to Leclercs, but he couldn’t make a move stick.

His Red Bull didn’t have enough straight-line speed in the dry to get close to the Ferrari.

“I think Max has probably had enough of Charles [Leclerc’s] gearbox tonight,” Mekies added. “I think he spent every single lap in Charles’ gearbox.

“It’s part of the game, we didn’t get much wet running and obviously we did make quite aggressive choices with the car to try to be in a good place for the heavy rain that came earlier today.

“Then afterwards on the dry, I think Max tried everything to get around Charles but I don’t think there has been very much overtaking in the dry this afternoon. So it was really tough, especially with the car in that configuration.”