Red Bull says sorry as Tsunoda fumes over SQ blunder at COTA

Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies personally owned up to the costly miscalculation that ruined Yuki Tsunoda’s Sprint qualifying session at the Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

The Japanese driver was left furious – and helpless – as he watched the chequered flag fall before he could even start his final flying lap.

After being sent out last by the Red Bull garage, Tsunoda ran out of time to begin his crucial run in SQ1, ending the session in a disappointing 18th – a bitter result for a driver fighting to prove his worth amid growing uncertainty about his 2026 seat.

Tsunoda's Fury: A Lap Denied, A Driver Denied

A visibly dejected Tsunoda didn’t hide his dismay after the session, calling his early elimination “shocking” and beyond his control.

“The timing of the garage exit was, I think, not even close,” Tsunoda told the official Formula 1 channel. “I don’t know what’s happened there, to be honest. Something went wrong and we didn’t have any opportunity to do a lap time so [it’s a] shame.

“It’s very frustrating because […] it’s not in my control. It’s not a thing I can control, to be honest.

“We can control it, but it was more up to them rather than myself, managing the timing. So it’s pretty shocking.”

The chaos compounded when Tsunoda found himself stuck behind Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson – the very man he replaced at Red Bull earlier this season – during his out-lap.

Forced to yield again moments later to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was on a timed run, Tsunoda’s shot at redemption vanished with the waving of the flag.

Mekies: “We got it wrong, honestly”

Team principal Laurent Mekies was quick to hold his hands up, taking full responsibility for what he admitted was a strategic misstep in the team’s timing plan.

“We got it wrong, honestly,” Mekies confessed to Sky Sports F1. “We apologise to Yuki, the programme was a bit too tight.

“It was a choice between staying out and cooling down [the car] on-track, or trying to cool down a bit better in the garage.

“We thought we would have the time to come back into the garage and get out again, but it was only possible for a few cars to do that and we missed the cut. So we owe Yuki and apologise there.”

A small mistake with big consequences

It was a rare operational blunder from a Red Bull outfit usually lauded for its precision, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time for Tsunoda. With Max Verstappen once again cruising to Sprint pole in the other car, the contrast between the two Red Bulls was as stark as the Texas sun overhead.

For Tsunoda, the frustration was as much about what could have been as what was lost. For Mekies, the lesson was clear: even in Formula 1’s most dominant team, one mistimed decision can turn a qualifying session into a disaster.

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