Yuki Tsunoda has openly admitted that he feels “a lot of pressure” following yet another race without scoring points for Red Bull at the 2025 F1 Canadian GP. The Japanese driver continues his adjustment to the RB21 and his new team after switching from Racing Bulls earlier this season.
Penalty hampers race hopes
Tsunoda’s weekend took a significant blow on Saturday when the Stewards handed him a 10-place grid penalty for overtaking McLaren’s Oscar Piastri under red flag conditions during Free Practice 3. Despite qualifying 11th, this penalty meant that he had to start from the back of the grid, which severely hindered his chances of a strong result.
On race day, Tsunoda chose a long opening stint on the hard tyres before switching to the medium compounds. Although he made some progress from his starting position, the 25-year-old ultimately finished in 12th place. This result extended his run to three consecutive races without scoring points.
Okay, but “not amazing” pace
When asked if finishing 12th at the 2025 F1 Canadian GP was the maximum he could achieve given the circumstances and the traffic he encountered, Tsunoda responded frankly:
“Yeah, pretty much, that’s it. The pace was okay, not amazing but still not too bad. Other than that, pretty much that’s it really. At least [a] positive is the car performance now, and the pace in the car felt a bit more normal or better than last previous races, so at least there’s a bit of motivation there.”
A steep learning curve after sudden promotion
Since his move to Red Bull, part of a driver swap that saw Liam Lawson move to Racing Bulls, Tsunoda has been candid about the difficulty of mastering the RB21. At one point, he described the car as “a science room” because of its complexity.
While he has shown flashes of promise, scoring points in Bahrain, Miami, and Imola, the weekend in Montreal reminded Tsunoda of the ongoing pressure that accompanies adapting to a new team and car.
Reflecting on the frustrations of Saturday’s sessions, he said: “[Saturday] was a tough day with the 10-place nonsense penalty. [I] lost a lot of time in FP3, especially with the new upgrades when you want to especially learn about the car. Still with our team, you want to be as high as possible, but I enjoy this challenge I guess. [In] these moments I’m having a lot of pressure, sometimes I’m not enjoying them that much but it’s part of the time that [is] an opportunity to improve myself and prove myself more.”
Looking ahead to Austria
Tsunoda will be keen to improve his fortunes at Red Bull’s home race in Austria, scheduled for June 27-29. With a deeper understanding of the RB21 and anticipated upgrades arriving, the Japanese driver hopes to end his recent run of bad luck and secure valuable points for the team in front of their home crowd.
