Marko issues ‘not what we had promised’ verdict on Tsunoda’s Belgian GP
Yuki Tsunoda's P13 was "not what we had promised"
Starting seventh at the Belgian Grand Prix, Helmut Marko had hoped Yuki Tsunoda could score his first points in six races, but his P13 was “not what we had promised”.
Tsunoda made it through to Q3 for the Belgian Grand Prix where he was seventh fastest after new team principal Laurent Mekies made the call to give him the new spec floor that Max Verstappen was already running.
Helmut Marko: Not what we had promised
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
“We upgraded his car just before qualifying as we are always pushing to the edge on our car parts quantity, but we decided to take the risk to upgrade his car,” revealed Mekies to F1TV.
“It helped in supporting his performance to get to a very, very good level.”
It all fell apart in the Grand Prix when a miscommunication with Red Bull led to a late call to pit when the driver was already passed the pit entry.
Tsunoda had to stay out for an extra lap around the 7km-long circuit while those he was racing pitted for slicks and gained time on him.
He dropped to 12th place and spent the next 30 laps stuck behind Pierre Gasly, unable to overtake the Alpine as his RB21 was lacking in straight-line speed.
“We’re very frustrated,” Tsunoda told the media, including PlanetF1.com.
“Already started from, I guess, miscommunication, or I don’t know what to say more than that.
“They called me in a late moment, just passed the pit entry. One lap on this kind of long track is very decisive, and unfortunately lost that opportunity.
“I lost four positions, five positions, whatever, and was stuck behind Pierre. I tried my best to overtake him, but unfortunately I couldn’t.”
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“I don’t know more than what should I say? More than to say change tyres. I can’t… We have to revise that for sure,” he added.
Gasly would cross the line in 10th place, after Sauber called in Nico Hulkenberg in for a second pit stop, while Tsunoda fell to 13th.
“The straight-line speed, struggled with it, “he said. “Unfortunately, there was no speed to overtake him. Tried my best, obviously, throughout the lap, but just yeah again, the tyres were gone.”
Marko was not happy with the result given Tsunoda had been running inside the points before his botched pit stop call.
“The pit stop wasn’t ideal, he lost places. We have to clarify why exactly,” he told Sky Deutschland.
“From seventh to twelfth [13th, ed’s note] place is not what we had promised.”
However, it wasn’t just the Japanese driver who didn’t achieve the result expected at Spa with Max Verstappen fourth at the chequered flag.
The reigning World Champion’s RB21 had been setup for the rain, but Race Control’s decision to delay the start until it was almost time for slicks negated the advantage he would’ve had in the wet.
“We couldn’t keep up with the pace, our setup was designed for rain,” Marko lamented.
“It then turned out that we were simply too slow in the first sector. We were never in a position to overtake the Ferrari.
“Nevertheless, we have come a little closer. But McLaren is in a class of its own.
“The window has widened, but we don’t have the range that the McLaren has and we were also surprised by the speed of the Ferrari. The setup we had in the Sprint would have been much better in these conditions.
“We are still bringing something to Hungary. Let’s see how that plays out.”
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