Red Bull: Tsunoda delivered ‘solid weekend’ in Bahrain amid chaos

Red Bull were clearly disappointed with the outcome of last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, despite their double points finish, but team boss Christian Horner still offered a positive view on Yuki Tsunoda’s ninth-place finish with his new team.

In a race plagued by pit stop troubles, tyre woes, and lingering car imbalances, Max Verstappen could do no better than sixth. But Tsunoda’s result marked his first points with Red Bull.

Tsunoda, starting from P10, delivered a composed drive, strategically avoiding the troublesome hard compound tyres that plagued Verstappen. And Horner was impressed overall, noting the Japanese driver’s proximity to his teammate.

“I thought actually Yuki has had a very solid weekend, he qualified in the top 10, finished in the points today, he drove pretty well,” he said.

“He was only 12 or 14 seconds behind his team mate so I thought Yuki's race was actually reasonable today.”

This performance highlighted Tsunoda’s adaptation to the challenging RB21, offering a silver lining amid Red Bull’s broader difficulties.

Pit Stop Pitfalls: Traffic Light System Fails Twice

The race for both drivers was further complicated by a malfunction in the team's pit light system, which left Verstappen stranded during his first stop and delayed Tsunoda shortly after.

“Well the first stop, Max came in and the light didn't do anything and of course it's a very simple system that we expected… the button hadn't been pressed hard enough by one of the technicians, and the next pit stop was within one minute and then it happened again and at that point, we went into a manual override on the system and the chief mechanic released the car,” Horner explained.

“I think we need to look into it, I've just heard that there was some kind of wiring or electrical issue with the gantries, one I certainly haven't seen before."

“The drivers live by those traffic lights and the actual stops were pretty good, there was a two-second stop but then the drivers are waiting for the lights – and then obviously it didn't go out... We'll have a good look at it.”

The pit light failures cost Verstappen precious seconds and undermined what were otherwise clean and fast tyre changes by the pit crew.

Car Struggles Compound Challenges

Beyond the team’s pit lane troubles, Red Bull grappled with car imbalances and brake issues, which exacerbated tyre degradation.

“We've been struggling with two issues this weekend: one a braking issue and secondly just an imbalance, and when you have that, then tyre deg [degradation] etc, everything looks worse.

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“On top of that we've had a horrible day where we had what looks like a wiring loom issue in the pit gantry that has caused there to be a problem with the traffic light.

“So yes, all in all to actually come away with a sixth place and limit it to an eight-point deficit to Lando [Norris], with the challenges that we've had…”

With McLaren and Mercedes capitalizing on Red Bull’s struggles, the team trails by 80 points in the Constructors’ Championship. As the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix looms, Horner’s squad faces urgency to resolve these issues and close the gap.

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