Yuki Tsunoda was frustrated to drop out of qualifying for the sprint race in the first round after being unable to set a time at the end of the session.
Red Bull sent him out last at the end of SQ1 and he was one of several drivers who did not reach the timing line to start their lap before the chequered flag was waved.
“The timing of the garage exit was, I think, not even close,” Tsunoda told the official Formula 1 channel. “I don’t know what’s happened there, to be honest. Something went wrong and we didn’t have any opportunity to do a lap time so [it’s a] shame.”
Tsunoda said there was nothing more he could have done to ensure he started his lap in time. “It’s very frustrating because […] it’s not in my control,” he said.
“It’s not a thing I can control, to be honest. We can control it, but it was more up to them rather than myself, managing the timing. So it’s pretty shocking.”
Tsunoda realised as he queued at the pit-lane exit that he was unlikely to be able to complete his final lap. He told race engineer Richard Wood: “it’s going to be fucking tight.”
“Yeah, you have to take position on-track,” Wood replied. “I’m not sure we’re going to make it,” Tsunoda repeated. “You will make it,” said Wood, “just take positions on-track.”
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However all of the drivers ahead of him were also trying to reach the timing line before the session ended so he was not able to overtake any of them.
He left the pits immediately behind Liam Lawson, the Racing Bulls driver who Tsunoda replaced at Red Bull after the second round of the season. Lawson made sure Tsunoda did not overtake him during the out-lap, which he was allowed to do, and the Racing Bulls driver was one of many others who failed to start their final laps on time.
“It’s just more like his usual,” said Tsunoda after the session, “there’s nothing I expect more than that, to be honest, from him.”
Tsunoda lost more time on his out-lap as he had to slow down to let Charles Leclerc through as the Ferrari driver completed a flying lap. The Red Bull driver was so far away from reaching the chequered flag in time the lights had already turned red as he reached the final corner.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies admitted the team “owe Yuki an apology” for his mis-timed final run.
“We got it wrong, honestly,” he told Sky. “We apologise to Yuki, the programme was a bit too tight.
“It was a choice between staying out and cooling down [the car] on-track, or trying to cool down a bit better in the garage. We thought we would have the time to come back into the garage and get out again, but it was only possible for a few cars to do that and we missed the cut.”
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2025 United States Grand Prix
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