Helmut Marko maintains optimism in Barcelona despite Yuki Tsunoda’s qualifying debacle

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko remains hopeful of a strong showing in Barcelona despite Yuki Tsunoda's disappointing Q1 exit during Spanish GP qualifying. The Japanese driver endured another difficult session on Saturday (May 31), finishing slowest despite showing promise earlier in the weekend.

Tsunoda's recent run of form derailed after a heavy qualifying crash at Imola earlier this month. The downward trend carried through to Monaco, where the 25-year-old struggled for pace and finished two laps down. In Spain, the Japanese racer ended the session 20th, clocking a 1m13.385s lap around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

After Spanish GP qualifying on Saturday, Marko didn't hold back when evaluating Yuki Tsunoda's latest showing to Sky Germany (via Planet F1):

"The performance is disappointing. He was relatively close to Max on Friday. And now in qualifying nothing worked at all. And to finish last, even if the car isn't entirely identical, is something we need to question internally."

Despite the frustration, the Austrian is optimistic about the team's progress as Max Verstappen begins behind the McLaren duo in the second row.

"The softer the tires, the higher the temperatures, the less grip we have. And I don't yet know how we’re going to solve that. But in general, we have come a step closer to McLaren. A podium should at least be in the cards," Marko added.

Yuki Tsunoda was over 1.8 seconds slower than pole-sitter Oscar Piastri and nearly 1.5 seconds adrift of teammate, Verstappen who finished 1:11.848s.

From the outset of Q1, Tsunoda seemed to lack confidence in the car. Though his final flying lap was clean and relatively mistake-free, it wasn't enough to claw his way out of the elimination zone. The possibility of damage from a previous lap, particularly one where he ran wide and clipped the kerbs, couldn't be ruled out, especially given the team's post-session suspicion of possible floor damage.

The Japanese driver acknowledged the disappointing result but pointed to confidence and consistency after the session (via F1):

"It's a shame that there were no results today and the pace didn't match when I was feeling more confident in the car. The positive to take away is that we've built more consistency throughout the weekend and have made no big mistakes."

After starting last in Imola, he rebounded to finish P10 while his teammate clinched the win. He will be hoping for something similar this Sunday (June 1).

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Yuki Tsunoda rues Q1 struggles in Spain after grip issues derail Saturday hopes

Yuki Tsunoda in the media pen after F1's Spanish Grand Prix qualifying. Source: Getty

Yuki Tsunoda has been struggling since FP1 in Spain. Despite changes to the setup throughout the weekend, the team couldn't fix what appeared to be fundamental grip and balance issues. He didn't suffer any major issues, but the pace never quite arrived, as he lingered outside the top ten in the final two sessions.

Visibly dejected after another weekend that began with promise but spiraled in performance, Tsunoda said (via F1):

"Since FP1 this weekend something has felt off, and it's a pretty tough result as we've tried everything. We've struggled with grip issues and the feeling of the car eating through the tyres all weekend. We tried to solve the issue as much as possible but I don't think we were able to cure it... I will try my best as always for tomorrow to bring back some points, and luckily Barcelona is a track that you can overtake on."

The decision to run with a slightly higher downforce in Qualifying was an attempt to give Tsunoda a more stable platform. However, it decreased his straight-line speed and did little to solve the underlying handling imbalance.

Despite the setback, Yuki Tsunoda will look to exploit the Circuit de Barcelona -Catalunya with the backing of Verstappen. There will be multiple overtaking opportunities for him, particularly into Turn 1 and the reprofiled final sector, to recover some ground on Sunday.