{"id":108908,"date":"2025-09-02T10:42:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T10:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/108908\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T10:42:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T10:42:09","slug":"how-a-bizarre-glitch-ruined-yuki-tsunodas-dutch-gp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/108908\/","title":{"rendered":"How a bizarre glitch ruined Yuki Tsunoda\u2019s Dutch GP"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yuki Tsunoda<\/a>\u2019s Dutch Grand Prix unravelled in his final stint due to a highly unusual issue on his Red Bull Formula 1 car.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were locked into the wrong map after the final stop,\u201d team principal Laurent Mekies explained. \u201cHe basically drove the final part with a really, really not friendly throttle map.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

Until 2020, F1 teams were free to switch engine and throttle mappings throughout a race weekend, which allowed them to unleash maximum power from the unit when needed \u2013 whether that be for a flying lap in qualifying or at a decisive moment in the race.<\/p>\n

But in 2020 the FIA clamped down on these \u2018party modes\u2019, as Mercedes<\/a> once cheekily dubbed them. Since then, only one engine mode has been permitted from qualifying to the end of the race. Drivers may only change it in three cases: when the car is stationary with the engine off, in an officially wet race, or in the pitlane.<\/p>\n

Because a different mapping matters more from a standstill than in race trim, drivers routinely switch to \u2018launch mode\u2019 as they enter the pitlane, then return to standard mode after their pitstops.<\/p>\n

That is when things went wrong for Tsunoda. \u201cIt’ll be strat 12 in the pitlane, strat 12,\u201d race engineer Richard Wood reminded him on pit entry. And after the stop: \u201cStrat 11, strat 11.\u201d But Tsunoda apparently failed to execute the switch immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, so we are stuck in the pedal map,\u201d he was told. \u201cIt’s a very flat pedal up between 15% and 40%.\u201d In other words, throttle response between 15 and 40 % pedal travel was now completely different \u2013 optimised for a launch, not for sustained racing.<\/p>\n

\"Yuki <\/p>\n

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing<\/p>\n

Photo by: Erik Junius<\/p>\n

Visibly agitated, Tsunoda fiddled with the red rotary switch in his cockpit after leaving the pits, only to realise something was very wrong. \u201cI don’t have power,\u201d he radioed. The reply came back: \u201cYou do not have power until 40% throttle. It’s a very flat pedal map. We cannot fix it on track. Try and get used to it under the safety car just now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Changing it outside the pitlane was impossible. Mekies explained: \u201cBasically, when you are in the pitlane, you are changing maps. And if you don’t change back, you are locked into it for the rest of the time. So that’s what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tsunoda had pitted on lap 54 of 72, running 13th behind Lance Stroll<\/a>. He eventually finished ninth, just 4.1 seconds behind the Aston Martin. His engineer praised him afterwards: \u201cThat wasn’t easy, that last stint without throttle shift. You did a really good job learning in the safety car.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Tsunoda, though, it was little consolation. \u201cAt some point the safety car was faster than my car,\u201d he fumed. \u201cOur team did a fantastic job to minimise damage and obviously went much better. But still, the car lost a lot of performance. And still, I was in P11. So it was a good execution for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least Tsunoda scored his first points since Imola in May \u2013 though satisfaction was limited. \u201cI felt like everything was there, it was against me,\u201d he said. \u201cThe first safety car didn’t help at all. And the second safety car as well. I mean, the people I was fighting with, they ended up P5, P6. But even in the last stint, I was about to try and make positions and I had those kinds of issues. It was not easy to even score points there.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, normally P9 you don’t feel special, but I think it’s something that gives me confidence for the future. And yeah, today was not easy at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Yuki <\/p>\n

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing, Laurent Mekies, Racing Bulls Team Principal<\/p>\n

Photo by: Kym Illman \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Mekies noted that Tsunoda would likely have finished seventh under normal circumstances: \u201cBefore that, he was in front of Antonelli. Yuki was a bit unfortunate with the first safety car timing, because he was one of two cars \u2013 it was him and Charles, I think \u2013 that had pitted before.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo he lost, like, four or five positions just because everybody got a cheap stop. Honestly, there is not much you can say on the pace, because he was probably glued in traffic for most of the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Stuart Codling and Ronald Vording<\/p>\n

In this article<\/p>\n

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