Max Verstappen just demonstrated at the Brazilian GP why Red Bull can’t retain Yuki Tsunoda for 2026

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Red Bull Racing star Max Verstappen declared after qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix that his chances of winning a fifth consecutive championship were over.

For the first time since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix, both Red Bull drivers were eliminated in Q1.

Max Verstappen finished qualifying in 16th, while his teammate Yuki Tsunoda set the slowest time of the 19 drivers that took part in the session, with Gabriel Bortoleto missing out following his huge crash in the Sprint Race.

Red Bull won’t want to look back at the last time this happened, as David Coulthard retired with a mechanical issue at Suzuka 19 years ago, and his teammate Robert Doornbos finished 13th.

Verstappen and Helmut Marko believe his title bid is over, especially as Lando Norris extended his lead in the drivers’ championship after winning the Sprint Race.

Martin Brundle was particularly concerned about Verstappen following qualifying, but there’s an argument to be made that the Saturday of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix should be the moment that Red Bull decide not to continue with Tsunoda into 2026.

Tsunoda’s F1 future is in doubt, as Red Bull and sister team Racing Bulls are the only outfits yet to decide their line-ups for next season.

What happened during the Sprint Race and qualifying suggests that Tsunoda’s F1 experience might not be the advantage he thinks it is, as he competes with Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson for a spot on the grid.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda’s life outside F1 from height to parents

Yuki Tsunoda’s set-up feedback contributed to Max Verstappen’s Brazilian GP Q1 exit

Tsunoda was eliminated in Q1 for the Sprint Race, and journalist Adam Cooper confirmed on X: “Info from the @redbullracing camp. @yukitsunoda07 started from the pitlane with a changed set-up – softer and higher, I believe – in essence as an experiment.

“It worked, and thus @Max33Verstappen is set to go that way for qualifying and the race, so he should be happier.”

Fellow journalist Jorge Piero confirmed after Red Bull’s double Q1 exit that the team were taking Tsunoda and Verstappen’s feedback more seriously.

He explained: “Red Bull has admitted that they’ve been listening to the drivers more and more (instead of just looking at numbers) to adjust the setup, and it’s been going wonderfully for them lately.

“You can’t always get it right, and today, Max hasn’t had any grip. Tsunoda, out in Q1 as well.”

Unfortunately, this worked against Verstappen, who found his car much harder to drive than before.

Erik van Haren confirmed on social media that Red Bull reverted to a previous set-up, stating: “Lots of questions/comments today about the latest updates, which Red Bull brought to Mexico, and which are having an impact on poorer performance.

“Verstappen drove the qualifying with, shall we say, the ‘Austin-car’. So not with the Mexico-floor either. So it’s not that easy.”

However, it should be noted that journalist Jon Noble confirmed on The Race F1 Podcast that Verstappen only took on ‘some’ of the changes suggested after Tsunoda’s dummy run in the Sprint Race.

Unfortunately, if Verstappen puts his trust in Tsunoda ahead of qualifying, then his advantage of having more experience than Hadjar can’t be taken into account when deciding next year’s Red Bull line-up.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Max Verstappen admits Red Bull don’t ‘understand’ what happened during Brazilian GP qualifying

Speaking after qualifying, via Motorsport, Verstappen admitted: “We first need to understand exactly what’s going on.

“It just wasn’t right; I had absolutely zero grip. It seems we don’t understand why it’s like this. We’ve made changes to the car, but they don’t work. We need to figure that out first. Nothing seems to work, so we don’t understand it.

“It’s clear that something isn’t working for us. If you adjust the setup, you should normally feel some kind of response. But the car isn’t responding at all, so something is seriously wrong.”

A report from De Telegraaf suggested that Verstappen ‘internally questioned’ some of the changes that were made to his car.

Red Bull’s simulations suggested that their Mexico updates should have been quicker than the version of their car that they ran in Austin, and the changes Verstappen made turned out to be the ‘completely wrong choice’.

The extent to which Tsunoda’s feedback played a role in Verstappen changing his set-up could end up determining his future with the team.

Many people have argued that Hadjar shouldn’t be promoted too quickly heading into a new set of regulations, with experience set to be key.

The Frenchman will start Sunday’s race from fifth, while Tsunoda’s torrid weekend will see him start from the back row of the grid.