Yuki Tsunoda says ‘everything going against me’ after Las Vegas GP disappointment

Yuki Tsunoda said it felt like “everything was going against me” after another underwhelming race in the seat of the Red Bull.

The Japanese driver registered his 16th pointless race of the year after a poor qualifying saw him start from the pit lane with a new power unit.

Yuki Tsunoda bemoans luck after Las Vegas GP

Despite Tsunoda’s low starting spot, the rise of both Lewis Hamilton – who went from 19th to 8th – and Kimi Antonelli – who went from 17th to the podium – suggested points were possible but Tsunoda could only manage P12 even after the McLarens had been disqualified.

The driver was not helped by the timing of a virtual safety car and said aspects like that made him feel everything was going against him.

“The thing is, the safety car came in right after I did it,” he said. “So we do it now, what we were trying to achieve with that was trying to get it, but specifically came in multiple people just trying in front of it. So there was no point.

“It feels like everything so far is going against me and the luck and everything. I don’t like the word luck but this weekend feels like it’s really, really bad luck.

“It’s strange and frustrating that I wasn’t able to use my pace I had until qualifying. Just throwing away.”

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Red Bull’s team principal Laurent Mekies spoke in similar terms, suggesting the team “lost points” in qualifying.

“With Yuki, we lost the points yesterday,” Mekies said post-race. “We know that, and hence we tried to take a bit more risk and to be different compared to the field.

“We knew that otherwise we would just be stuck in traffic, so we tried to pit him very early, to give him some free air, get him to show his pace. It was not enough today.”

Tsunoda’s performance comes at a time when his future has never been more under question with Red Bull yet to publicly announce who will be filling the three seats alongside Max Verstappen.

Tsunoda, who is in his fifth season of Formula 1 racing, hoped his performances in the practice sessions showed Red Bull there was something to believing in.

“At least I’ve shown multiple times until qualifying. From FP1 to FP3, every session, performance run I was fighting quite strongly against what Max and multiple times ahead of him. Something that we didn’t see, they didn’t see, and I didn’t have as well for a long time.

“So I think something that I should take a positive and pace was amazing there. The incredible thing is about Max is he will bring another level into the qualifying, but also has a confidence as well.”

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