Helmut Marko stunned by Max Verstappen’s mistake that Yuki Tsunoda aced at the F1 Qatar Grand Prix

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Yuki Tsunoda has finally out-qualified Max Verstappen as teammates for Red Bull in Sprint Qualifying at the 2025 F1 Qatar Grand Prix, ending the Dutchman’s 24-0 lead.

Friday night also saw Verstappen beaten by his teammate during a qualifying session for any race format for the first time in 439 days. Sergio Perez was the last driver to beat Verstappen in a qualifying session racing for Red Bull at the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, 29 rounds ago.

Liam Lawson did not out-qualify Verstappen for either of his two Grands Prix and sole Sprint for Red Bull to start the 2025 F1 season after replacing Perez in December. Tsunoda moved up from Racing Bulls in March, but Verstappen had always had his number during qualifying.

Red Bull had also seen Verstappen go 1.126 seconds per lap faster than Tsunoda on average across the previous four Sprint Qualifying sessions they contested as teammates prior to the Qatar GP. Yet Tsunoda beat Verstappen by only 0.009s during SQ3 in Lusail, for P5 and P6.

Yuki Tsunoda proved Max Verstappen asked for the wrong set-up for Sprint Qualifying in Qatar

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri secured pole for the F1 Sprint in Qatar with a 1:20.055, as he denied Mercedes racer George Russell by 0.032s. Tsunoda was the top Red Bull driver during Sprint Qualifying with a 1:20.519, while Verstappen would only record a personal-best of 1:20.528.

READ MORE: Everything to know about the F1 Qatar Grand Prix, including past winners

Verstappen complained about “a lot” of understeer at Turns 2 and 4 after going off track on his provisional SQ3 run. He also lost a lot of lap time in the first sector on his final flying lap, which initially left the Dutchman in P5 before Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso moved to P4.

Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko thinks Verstappen asking for a more responsive front-end ultimately worked against him in Sprint Qualifying at the Qatar GP, after Tsunoda proved he made the right decision by asking for a more responsive rear-end with his set-up.

“We found something for the medium tyre,” Marko told Sky Germany, via RacingNews365. “We were absolutely competitive there.

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“But with the soft tyres, the same problems emerged, again, as in the first practice. And in that respect, it has even got worse compared to Yuki’s car. The changes were different.

“Max wanted more front-end [and] Yuki more rear-end. And, apparently, these changes to Yuki’s car were the better ones.”

Max Verstappen will hope Red Bull do not make the same set-up mistake as they did in Brazil

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has given Verstappen more freedom with his set-ups since replacing Christian Horner in charge this July. The Milton Keynes squad had previously relied more heavily on what their simulator had suggested was best to decide their set-ups.

F1 Sprint weekends always pose more of a challenge to determine what set-up is truly best, given there is only one practice session before Sprint Qualifying. Verstappen may now have to hope that Red Bull do not make the same error reacting to his result as they did in Brazil.

Red Bull changed Verstappen’s set-up for qualifying in Brazil, having used Tsunoda as a test dummy during the previous Sprint in Sao Paulo. Yet moving the Dutchman’s set-up towards what the Japanese ace had run saw him qualify P16, while his teammate only secured P19.

Verstappen would start the Sao Paulo Grand Prix from the pit lane so Red Bull could change his set-up again, along with fitting a new engine. The changes worked a trick, as Verstappen earned P3 in the Sao Paulo GP while Tsunoda came home P17 after keeping his initial set-up.