Helmut Marko pulls back the curtain on Yuki Tsunoda's struggles at Red Bull

Helmut Marko believes Yuki Tsunoda is struggling to adapt to the Red Bull car in changing track conditions. Speaking to ORF after qualifying for the 2025 Austrian GP, the Red Bull advisor said the narrow operating window of the RB21 is contributing to the Japanese driver’s frustrations.

Tsunoda qualified 18th, while teammate Max Verstappen secured seventh. Although Tsunoda’s first lap in Q1 was good enough for the top 10, he was unable to improve on his second run as the track evolved, ultimately being knocked out of Q1.

Marko explained that Tsunoda has not been able to adjust to the evolving grip levels like Verstappen, and the narrow balance window of the car makes it unforgiving. He added that, unlike the more stable McLaren, the RB21 is edgy and unpredictable at the limit.

Tsunoda also admitted his second lap was worse than what he could manage in the Racing Bulls earlier in the year. He struggled to adapt to the changing track surface and noted the car’s balance felt drastically different between the two attempts.

Explaining Tsunoda's struggles with the Red Bull RB21, Marko said (via Motorsport):

“With his first set, he was still somewhat within range. That would’ve even been enough for Q3. But with the changing conditions, Yuki just has a much harder time adapting. Max can drive over that. But the main problem is that our car has too narrow a working window, and is also extremely edgy at the limit. You could see that clearly. When McLaren slides, the car corrects itself easily. With us, it’s always a tightrope walk between going off and just barely keeping it together.”

Describing his performance in the Austrian GP qualifying, Tsunoda said:

“Not even in the level that I was doing in the VCARB. Not able to adjust properly with the things in the second push. First push felt good, and yeah, the second push. I mean, obviously, there's always perfect laps. So, you know, there's something that I could have done better. But, yeah, also, that balance felt completely different between first push and second push. That caught a bit of a surprise.”

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Helmut Marko claims Red Bull was expecting Max Verstappen to qualify third

Helmut Marko has claimed that Red Bull data suggested Max Verstappen had the pace to qualify third but would have still been half a second off Lando Norris’ pole time. Speaking after the 2025 Austrian GP qualifying, the Austrian felt that yellow flags interrupted Verstappen’s final run and denied him a better grid slot.

Marko reckoned that the gap to McLaren was still significant despite the potential improvement, especially on a short lap like the Red Bull Ring. The 82-year-old felt that the qualifying session posed different challenges, and most teams, apart from McLaren, struggled to adapt to the changing conditions.

Commenting on Verstappen’s qualifying, Marko said:

“The conditions were very different compared to FP3. Everyone had problems—except McLaren. And seventh place, I mean, that’s only because of the yellow flag... According to our data, Max would’ve been around third place, but still a good half a second behind Norris. That’s a really big gap we’re getting here on such a short track.”

Max Verstappen will start seventh on the grid, while teammate Yuki Tsunoda lines up 18th. It marks one of Verstappen’s lowest qualifying positions in the 2025 season.

Despite the setback, the reigning world champion remains third in the drivers’ standings with 155 points, 21 behind Lando Norris and 43 adrift of championship leader Oscar Piastri. With overtaking opportunities available at the Red Bull Ring, all eyes will be on the Dutchman to see if he can charge through the field on race day.