Karun Chandhok was wrong to forgive 97-start F1 driver after Carlos Sainz’s Austrian GP qualifying ‘disappointment’

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Karun Chandhok was quick to claim Williams driver Carlos Sainz endured a ‘massive disappointment’ after qualifying in just 19th place for the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix.

The 30-year-old has now suffered Q1 exits during each of the past three rounds of the 2025 F1 season, with only Sauber star Nico Hulkenberg slower than Sainz at the Red Bull Ring. He set a 1:05.582 lap around the 4.326km (2.688m) circuit to miss out on a Q2 place by 0.304s.

Williams had one car advance to Q2, with Alex Albon posting a 1:05.143 during Q1 to secure ninth place in the first leg of qualifying for the Austrian GP. Sainz was 0.439s slower than the 29-year-old, and added another Q1 exit to his run featuring P18 in Spain and P17 in Canada.

Sainz revealed straight after Q1 that his FW47 was pulling to one side during qualifying after Williams fitted new brakes onto his car, as is normal practice for the Grove-based outfit. The Spaniard also developed some damage on his floor in Q1, which made the car ‘bad’ to drive.

Karun Chandhok forgives Yuki Tsunoda but slams Carlos Sainz’s Austrian Grand Prix qualifying

Yet while Chandhok was quick to slam Sainz during qualifying for the Austrian GP after being almost half a second slower than Albon in Q1, the former HRT F1 driver was quick to forgive Red Bull racer Yuki Tsunoda for also bowing out in the first phase in just P18 with a 1:05.369.

Tsunoda does not have Red Bull’s floor upgrade in Austria like Max Verstappen, who set the sixth-fastest time in Q1 during his first run of the session. But what proved crucial was that the 25-year-old only improved his lap time by 0.017s at the end of Q1 to depart in only P18.

READ MORE: Williams star Carlos Sainz’s life outside F1 from full name, girlfriend and height

Yet Chandhok was sympathetic with Tsunoda, given his second effort put the Japanese ace only 0.263s behind Verstappen’s first Q1 lap time at the Austrian GP. It marks the third time Tsunoda has failed to advance from Q1 during his nine rounds as a Red Bull F1 driver so far.

“Half a second between them, so that’s a massive disappointment,” Chandhok said on Sky Sports F1 (29/06, 15:23) about Sainz. He added: “Look at that time gap, there, you’re looking at a seven-tenths of a second [gap] for the top 18.

“To be fair to Yuki, if you look at his time gap to Verstappen, he’s only a quarter of a second down. [He was] 0.260s, which was infinitely closer than he’s been. I get that it’s a shorter lap. But even percentage-wise, it’s a lot closer than he’s been.”

Karun Chandhok is wrong to forgive Yuki Tsunoda after his third Q1 exit as a Red Bull driver

Tsunoda complained over Red Bull’s radio after his Q1 exit at the team’s home race that the Kanagawa native did not have ‘any’ front grip in the first phase of qualifying for the Austrian GP. But Chandhok was wrong to forgive Tsunoda after bowing out in Q1 at the Red Bull Ring.

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

Red Bull demoted Liam Lawson back to Racing Bulls after just two rounds and team principal Christian Horner told Tsunoda to be as close to Verstappen as possible. They wanted him to help the Dutchman retain his drivers’ title against McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Yet Verstappen sits third in the F1 drivers’ championship and 43 points behind Piastri and 21 points behind Norris before the Austrian GP. Tsunoda has even been 0.610s slower than the Dutchman during the eight qualifying sessions in which both Red Bull drivers have set times.

Suffering his third Q1 exit as a Red Bull driver at the team’s home race would have also been among the last things that Tsunoda needed. The Japanese star will hope to make his 98th F1 career start on Sunday, but will race amid claims that Red Bull will drop Tsunoda after 2025.