Yuki Tsunoda’s quest to cement his spot in Red Bull’s lineup for 2026 took a hit in the Singapore Grand Prix, where a qualifying flop spiraled into what the Japanese driver branded the absolute nadir of his racing life.
Last Sunday’s Marina Bay meltdown – dropping from 13th on the grid to a lowly 18th by the end of lap one – left Tsunoda scrambling through traffic, only to claw back to a frustrating 12th, missing out on points to rivals like Carlos Sainz who lined up dead last on the grid.
With 2026 driver lineups looming and teammate Max Verstappen racking up podiums – including two recent outright wins, Tsunoda’s spotlight burns hotter than ever.
The Worst Start Ever
A clearly exasperated Tsunoda didn’t hold back when speaking after the race.
“It definitely was the worst start or the first lap ever in my life,” he said. “I can’t still believe what happened in the first lap.
“Every place I tried to go, every corner in the first lap, I was literally covered or blocked by someone. I just didn’t have any space to go. I lost so many positions in the first lap. It was definitely the worst start ever.
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“I don’t know what I should have done there. I’m sure there’s something I could have done better. That for sure made my life very hard afterwards. It’s not an easy car, for sure. But Max was in the fight for P2 and I was fighting somewhere else…”
Finding Hope in the Long Runs
While qualifying and his race start left much to be desired, Tsunoda insisted there were positives to take from Singapore – particularly in his long-run pace.
“To be honest, the pace was one of the best I’ve had in my Red Bull career so far,” he explained.
“Until two races ago, I was almost hopeless. The pace I had, whatever I did, I was almost P19, P18. But now I had a really good pace, very competitive towards the top of the field.
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“Now I just have to extract the grip on the one lap. I just somehow couldn’t feel much grip. I think just putting it all together with a one lap pace and the long run is, I think, the key.
“If I’m able to do that, I think we’ll come together. That’s my main goal.”
Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies echoed that sentiment but admitted the weekend was far from ideal.
“It was not a good Saturday for Yuki,” Mekies said. “Personally, I was satisfied with the work he did on Friday but then Saturday was poor, we need to work with him to understand what derailed it.
“The first lap was certainly shocking, but from that point onward I think he did a very decent race, I think he came back from P18 to P12 with a very decent pace.
“We had a very poor Saturday, it’s costing us the weekend and a few points, and we’ll work together with him to improve it.”
With the Americas leg of the season up next, Tsunoda is eager to turn his flashes of pace into a complete weekend.
His Singapore outing may have started as a disaster, but the glimpses of performance beneath the frustration suggest that the fiery racer still has fight left in him – and something to prove in Red Bull colors.
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