Ted Kravitz explains why Red Bull’s pit wall would have been ‘pretty disappointed’ in Yuki Tsunoda at Imola

It was another difficult weekend for the driver in the Red Bull garage opposite Max Verstappen at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Imola has been a happy hunting ground for Red Bull recently, and Max Verstappen added yet another victory to his growing collection on Sunday.

Verstappen qualified on the front row alongside Oscar Piastri and was briefly in third after George Russell got a better getaway off the grid.

However, Piastri opened the door for Verstappen after braking too early and once the Dutchman took the lead, he simply couldn’t be stopped.

Position	Drivers' Championship	Points
1	Oscar Piastri	146
2	Lando Norris	133
3	Max Verstappen	124
4	George Russell	99
5	Charles Leclerc	61
6	Lewis Hamilton	53
7	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	48
8	Alexander Albon	40
9	Esteban Ocon	14
10	Lance Stroll	14

While one Red Bull driver was starting at the front of the pack, Yuki Tsunoda was preparing for the race from the pit lane.

Fans were glad for the halo device after Tsunoda’s huge crash in qualifying that saw him flip his RB21 on the exit of the Villeneuve chicane.

The Japanese driver had work to do to make an impact on the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, and while he recovered enough to score a point at the end of the race, he may not have completed one of his key objectives in the eyes of Christian Horner and Helmut Marko.

Ted Kravitz says Yuki Tsunoda needed to hold up Oscar Piastri to please Red Bull

Journalist and pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz was speaking in the paddock during Ted’s Notebook after Sunday’s race.

Kravitz was very complimentary about Verstappen’s performance but discussing his newest teammate, he said: “Yuki, in a rebuilt chassis, was told to hold up Oscar Piastri but failed at the first attempt really at that.

“He was a hard starter, so, well done to the Red Bull mechanics for rebuilding that car.

RANK	DRIVER	TEAM	POINTS
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	25
2	Lando Norris	McLaren	18
3	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	15
4	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	12
5	Alex Albon	Williams	10
6	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	8
7	George Russell	Mercedes	6
8	Carlos Sainz	Williams	4
9	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	2
10	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull	1

2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix results

“But, they must have been pretty disappointed on the Red Bull pit wall when they said with no beating about the bush, hold up Oscar as much as possible, but then he didn’t have the pace to do that.

“He failed at the first attempt to do that, trailed home Hadjar by 2.8 seconds.

“So, the other star of Red Bull today, Red Bull Motorsport, is Isack Hadjar because he was ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, but then you would expect that because Yuki started from the pit wall in the rebuilt car after the accident in qualifying.”

Yuki Tsunoda could face internal Red Bull pressure sooner rather than later

Plenty of F1 fans compared Tsunoda’s inability to stop Piastri to Sergio Perez, and how well he used to act as a rear gunner for Verstappen while they were teammates.

So much is expected of Tsunoda already even though he’s only raced for Red Bull on five occasions.

However, even he admitted after qualifying that he was too experienced to be making the mistakes he is right now.

Position	Constructors' Standings	Points
1	McLaren Racing	279
2	Mercedes-AMG Petronas	147
3	Red Bull Racing	131
4	Scuderia Ferrari	114
5	Williams F1 Team	51
6	Haas F1 Team	20
7	Aston Martin F1 Team	14
8	Racing Bulls	10
9	Alpine F1 Team	7
10	Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber	6

His pace in practice is strong and there was nothing wrong with how he performed during Sunday’s race, but his qualifying performances haven’t been up to scratch yet.

Jacques Villeneuve suggested Tsunoda could be under pressure soon, with Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar continuing to impress.

The young Frenchman finished ahead of Tsunoda once again, and is quickly developing a reputation as one of the best young drivers on the grid.