Yuki Tsunoda was relieved to get points in F1 Dutch GP after safety car ruined his run and a wrong throttle map almost took away the chance to score.
Red Bull’s Tsunoda finally earned a points finish in F1 Dutch GP at Zandvoort after a gap of seven races, but it wasn’t straightforward. An aggressive approach to start on the soft compound nearly worked as he was on the heels of the Top 10, but got pipped by fast starting Alexander Albon.
He fended off Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the first stint but Red Bull pitted him a bit early to get him out of the traffic. But that was undone as a safety car was deployed soon after which allowed several to jump him. He was then stuck behind Oliver Bearman, who was going long in the first stint.
The second stop further added to his misery as he put himself in the wrong throttle map and it didn’t give him enough power. He noted that he was slower than the safety car at one point. He managed to clear Pierre Gasly in the end to end up 10th and finished ninth due to Antonelli’s penalty.
“I mean, not so much, I can do better than that, I felt like everything in the race was against me, like the first safety car didn’t help at all,” lamented Tsunoda. “And the second safety car as well, I mean, the people I was fighting with, they ended up P5, P6. But even in the last stint, I was about to try and make positions and I had those kinds of issues.
“It was not easy to even score points there. To be honest, normally P9 you don’t feel special, but I think it’s something that gives me confidence for the future. And yeah, today was not easy at all. Obviously, I can’t say specific details but yeah at some point the safety car was faster than my car. The team did a fantastic job to minimise damage and obviously went much better.
“But still, the car lost a lot of performance. And still, I was in P11. So it was a good execution for me,” summed up Tsunoda, who noted about getting close to Max Verstappen as the season progresses. It was a missed chance in Zandvoort, where he could have finished closer to the Dutchman in the Top 5, but for couple of intrusions that didn’t help.
“As a team, we are working really-really good,” continued Tsunoda. “In FP2, we were quite close, in qualifying we made a different approach in terms of set-up, didn’t make it work. Also, we didn’t have confidence to change something between FP3 and qualifying.
“I decided to stay a bit consistent, so maybe Max’s approach didn’t work, my set-up maybe worked, I don’t know, that’s what Max is better at, adapting really quickly but at the same time, as a team we learned lot of things from this weekend,” summed up Tsunoda, as team boss Mekies concurred on the double whammy for the Japanese to miss out on better points haul.
He also explained the throttle map issue that Tsunoda had to endure in the last part of the grand prix. “So Yuki was a bit unfortunate with the first safety car timing because one of two cars was him and Charles, I think, that had picked it before,” said Mekies. “So he lost like four or five positions just because everybody got a cheap stop. But before that, he was in front of Antonelli.
“So, if you look at the normal cycle, he would probably be around P7 end of the race. So he got a bit unfortunate there. Honestly, there is not much you can say on the pace because he was probably glued in traffic for most of the race. We started him on soft as well – same aggressive approach – but then we switched him on hard having stopped a bit early. It was not a PU problem, just to make things clear.
“He didn’t have a PU problem. We were locked into the wrong map after the final stop. So I’m not going to bother you or bore you with FIA regulations, but basically when you are in the pit lane, you are changing maps and if you don’t change back, you are locked into it for the rest of the time. So that’s what happened. So, he basically drove the final part with a really, really not friendly throttle map.
“I’m not sure what he will do with my not friendly, but anyway,” summed up Mekies, who is happy with the progress that Tsunoda is making, but he wants him to continue with the points run to retain his seat for 2026. Helmut Marko has hinted that he will have to prove his worth by Mexico and the message comes at a time when Isack Hadjar scored his first podium in Zandvoort.
“At first, you can always do more,” said Mekies, when asked what has Tsunoda to do more. “We can do more, he can do more, always. So, he’s doing more and more. We are trying everything we can to support. I think it’s still a positive trend for Yuki. I think it’s the first time back in the points after seven races, I’ve been told. Spa was a step forward.
“Budapest, as much as we were poor as a team, was a step forward in terms of gap to max. He’s a P9 in Zandvoort with a bit more of a safety gap, he could have been a P8 or a P7, even though the pace is difficult to evaluate. I think we just want to see him continue to progress, continue to close the gap to Max. That’s the main parameter. And continue to score points, because that’s ultimately what it’s about,” summed up Mekies.
Here’s how F1 Dutch GP panned out
