Red Bull ‘want to work’ with improving Yuki Tsunoda in one area after disappointing Italian Grand Prix

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Yuki Tsunoda has started to show signs of life in qualifying for Red Bull over the last few races, after making Q3 a few times.

Sadly, it hasn’t translated to much on a Sunday, but being eliminated in Q1 no longer seems to be much of a fear for the 25-year-old. After teammate Max Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix, Tsunoda would have been hoping to be in the points at least.

However, his pace was nowhere near as impressive, and he continued to battle with his Red Bull car before finishing 13th, blaming a clash with Liam Lawson and subsequent damage for his struggles. He’s now the lowest-placed individual in the drivers’ championship with a point to his name.

Laurent Mekies is taking the ‘exact opposite’ approach to Christian Horner since taking over as boss of the Milton Keynes-based outfit. There could be a chance that their line-up remains the same for 2026, but Juan Pablo Montoya has told Tsunoda to copy one thing Verstappen does if he wants to find more speed.

READ MORE: Red Bull might have changed their minds on under-pressure chief after Italian Grand Prix honour

Red Bull ‘want to work’ on Yuki Tsunoda’s race pace after disappointing Italian Grand Prix

Tsunoda branded Lawson ‘ridiculous’ after damage left him hindered towards the back end of the race in Monza. He replaced the Kiwi after just two races earlier in the season, and despite being teammates last year, it appears that no love has been lost between the two of them.

Despite being supportive of him for most of the year, Helmut Marko’s latest Tsunoda comments are worrying, after he called him ‘very stupid’ in Italy. Red Bull as a whole have now identified where the Japanese driver must improve, and will attack the weakness across the rest of 2025.

Formula 1 journalist Ronald Vording has reported that the team will look to work on Tsunoda’s race pace in a bid to extract more results from his time on track.

“Mekies did acknowledge that the pattern now is that he can compete reasonably well in qualifying,” he said. “Of course, not at Max’s level, but he can sometimes reach Q3. But that is especially lacking in terms of race pace, and that Red Bull wants to work on.”

READ MORE: Nico Rosberg privately ‘hearing’ why Yuki Tsunoda is so much slower than Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen

Why Yuki Tsunoda will be encouraged with Red Bull’s progress on ‘extreme’ issue

Red Bull were considered to be down and out when it came to competing for victories again in 2025 during the summer break, but they’ve managed a small turnaround. The signs are promising for both of their drivers.

Verstappen’s win means that he should be able to compete for more victories and disturb the McLaren drivers, while Tsunoda will hope to be in the points every weekend. Red Bull fixed one extreme ‘weakness’ with the RB21, and it might end up saving a few jobs.

Unfortunately, any progress in the constructors’ standings is unlikely with just the one driver scoring significant points, but they can look to build some positive momentum heading into the 2026 F1 regulations, which has been missing for a while around their camp.