Marko issues Tsunoda update after latest qualifying disappointment

Yuki Tsunoda may not have progressed to Q3 in Sprint qualifying at Spa, but Helmut Marko believes he is getting “better and better.”

Tsunoda could only watch on as his team-mate Max Verstappen took on the McLaren drivers in the fight for pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix Sprint, having dropped out in SQ2.

Yuki Tsunoda hasn’t been inside the top ten in qualy since Miami

The Japanese driver was almost eight-tenths off the pace in SQ2 and missed out on a spot in the final segment by 0.056s, qualifying behind both Racing Bulls drivers.

Adding to his woes, he was then summoned to the stewards for driving unnecessarily slowly, which constitutes non-compliance under Article 33.4, which states: “At no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically, or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person.”

Tsunoda was handed a reprimand for his actions, his second of the F1 2025 season.

There was, however, a bit of good news for the Japanese driver with Marko offering words of encouragement despite his SQ2 exit.

“I think he is getting better and better,” the Red Bull motorsport advisor said as per Motorsport Magazin.

“Sometimes he’s really good at it, but he can’t always keep that up consistently yet.”

Marko also confirmed that Tsunoda was not running Red Bull’s new upgraded package; only Verstappen had the new parts.

“Yuki didn’t have the updates now,” he said. “But if nothing happens to him in the Sprint race, he will also get some new parts.”

Red Bull team-mates: F1 2025 head-to-head stats

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

This weekend at Spa, Tsunoda has a new team principal but one that’s familiar to him in Laurent Mekies.

The former Racing Bulls team boss has replaced Christian Horner at Red Bull after the 51-year-old was sacked in the wake of the British Grand Prix.

Mekies knows Tsunoda from their time together at Racing Bulls and firmly believes the driver has the speed to succeed at Red Bull.

“Yuki is a fast guy,” he told Formula1.com. “There is no doubt. And speed doesn’t disappear.

“Circumstances have been difficult. I know the team is very strongly behind him, trying to unlock what can be unlocked and trying to connect the dots where dots need to be connected.

“So he has a very, very good interaction with the team. And yes, I’m confident that he will be able to show his true value in the near future.”

Tsunoda has scored just seven points in his 10 starts for Red Bull and sits P17 in the Drivers’ Championship.

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