Yuki Tsunoda responds to ‘very stressful’ Max Verstappen qualifying tow

Yuki Tsunoda admitted co-ordinating a tow for Max Verstappen in Q3 in Abu Dhabi was a “very stressful” experience, but he managed to make it work.

Tsunoda, who is entering his final race with Red Bull this weekend before dropping to a reserve role in 2026, gave his teammate a slipstream all the way up to Turn 9 in qualifying, to help Verstappen on his way to pole position.

Yuki Tsunoda: Max Verstappen tow a ‘very stressful’ experience

The reigning world champion was able to set two lap times good enough for pole on Saturday, the first of which was aided by Tsunoda putting his RB21 in the right place on the road to help his teammate.

Having stayed far enough away to cut through the air, offering a tow but without disturbing Verstappen through the first two sectors, the Japanese driver ducked away at the right moment as Verstappen approached the fast Turn 9 left-hander, which earned him internal plaudits within Red Bull.

Having not conducted such a move until qualifying, he acknowledged the risk involved.

Tsunoda told PlanetF1.com and other media afterwards: “I had more pressure or stress when I helped in the tow, because, like, [Verstappen] can’t be very close into Turn 5, can’t be very far [either].

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“So, it was very stressful, to be honest. But at least I nailed it, and they [Red Bull] gave me some compliments. So yeah, I’ll take it.”

Tsunoda needed car repairs ahead of the qualifying session, after Kimi Antonelli was found to have been unsafely released into his path in the pit lane, for which Mercedes received a €10,000 fine.

Tsunoda revealed he had to put older parts back on his car to compete in qualifying, which saw him lose outright performance as a result.

Despite that, he qualified ninth and was able to leave his Saturday somewhat pleased with his night’s work in Abu Dhabi.

“After that Antonelli collision, I had to revert back to the old floor, which, to be honest, cost me quite a lot of performance into qualifying,” he added.

“I kind of expected it will be a difficult qualifying and, obviously, going through to Q3 and helping Max was the plan, but at the same time, I was a little bit worried about that, with that spec.

“I mean, it motivated me through, helped Max, which gave him a bit more confidence [with] second sets [of tyres] which was… reasonably happy with my job.”

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