Red Bull boss comments on Yuki Tsunoda’s form against Max Verstappen after Italian GP

Laurent Mekies has commented on Yuki Tsunoda’s form in comparison to Max Verstappen in the aftermath of the Italian Grand Prix weekend. The Red Bull team principal also highlighted a frustrating aspect of the Japanese driver’s performance.

Mekies, who spoke to the media, detailed how largely pleased he was with the qualifying outing of the 25-year-old. However, he expressed his frustration with Tsunoda's race pace, considering he had endured an incident-filled race.

Quizzed about Yuki Tsunoda’s overall outing following Verstappen’s win at the 'Temple of Speed', the 48-year-old stated:

"I look at qualifying, and I still qualify it as a good weekend. He was two tenths from Max in Q1, and Max was not exactly slow this weekend.”

"Then, with a small deficit from the car, he was two tenths from Max in Q2 and there is no doubt everybody is pushing 100% in Q2. Yes, the gap was bigger in Q3 - but first, he put the car in Q3, which is a very good performance. And second, he was first on the road in Q3, it didn't help as well. Short-run pace, I think, was a very good sample for Yuki. Long-run pace, it's frustrating not to have a clean race data," he added (via The Race).

The outing at the Italian Grand Prix turned out to be one laced with mixed fortunes for Yuki Tsunoda. While the Red Bull Racing driver recorded an overall impressive outing in qualifying, the former Racing Bulls driver was left to rue his race after making contact with Liam Lawson on the 30th lap of the race.

The incident left Tsunoda with a damaged floor, which largely spelled the end of his race at the Monza circuit.

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Laurent Mekies discloses what he wants from Yuki Tsunoda

Laurent Mekies also weighed in on what he demands from Yuki Tsunoda with the 2025 campaign nearing its final stretch. The French motorsports chief made it a priority for the 25-year-old to have a clean race, allowing the team to monitor his data.

While speaking to the media, Mekies stated how Tsunoda’s outing at the 'Temple of Speed' was largely one to forget for the Red Bull team. The team principal also detailed how it remains difficult for the team to muster anything out of his race performance.

"I'm tempted to tell you 'clean samples', because today was a poor sample. The races at the front are very clean. You get at least a good stint to read your performance, but here it was very difficult to get anything out of today,” he said.

Since his move to Red Bull Racing ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda has largely struggled with his outing on race Sundays. The former Racing Bulls driver has only finished in the points on four of his 14 outings with the Milton Keynes-based outfit so far.