Yuki Tsunoda explains Dutch GP F1 issue: ‘Safety Car was faster than me’

Yuki Tsunoda revealed a power unit issue left him slower than the Safety Car at one stage of the Dutch Grand Prix.

Tsunoda came away from Zandvoort with his first top 10 finish in a grand prix since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May.

The Japanese driver capitalised on DNFs for Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to score two points.

It wasn’t plain sailing for Tsunoda, as an incorrect throttle map hampered him in the final part of his race.

Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies said: “We were locked into the wrong map after the final stop. He basically drove the final part with a really, really not friendly throttle map.”

Tsunoda admitted that initially “the Safety Car was faster than my car” but Red Bull managed to “minimise the damage” and improve how it was affecting his performance.

“Obviously I can’t say specific details,” Tsunoda said. “But, yeah, at some point the Safety Car was faster than my car.”

“So, our team did a fantastic job to minimise damage and obviously went much better,” he expressed.

“But still there was something in the car that lost a lot of performance. And still I was in P11. So, yeah, it was a good execution for me.”

Tsunoda more confident after P9 finish

Tsunoda rued the timing of the various Safety Cars in the race.

Haas’ Ollie Bearman started from the pit lane, but finished sixth after waiting to stop under the Safety Car late on.

Tsunoda feels he couldn’t have finished higher than ninth given his circumstances.

“I mean, I’m not sure what I can do better than that,” he added.

“But I feel like everything today was against me. The first Safety Car didn’t help at all. And the second Safety Car as well.

“So, I mean, the people I was fighting with, they ended up P5, P6. Even in the last stint, I was about to try and make a position and I had those kind of issues.

“It was not even easy to even score points today. To be honest, normally in P9 you don’t feel special. But I think it’s something that gives me confidence for the future.”