Yuki Tsunoda admits to never having ‘this kind of feeling’ in F1 after another scoreless performance

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Yuki Tsunoda was the last-placed car to take the chequered flag at the British Grand Prix, making it his fifth consecutive Grand Prix finish outside of the points.

In fact, Tsunoda set an unwanted Red Bull record at Silverstone as his last-placed finish ended up being the first time in the team’s 20-year history that it has happened in back-to-back Grands Prix.

The performance of the RB21 is far from the dominance shown by its predecessors, but the contrast of Tsunoda’s results as opposed to Max Verstappen‘s in the same machinery is stark to see.

The Milton Keynes-based team are being left behind by the front-runners of the Constructors’ Championship, with Tsunoda contributing just seven points to their 172-point total since taking over from Liam Lawson at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Yuki Tsunoda admits to feeling ‘a bit lost’ when driving the RB21

The 25-year-old’s performances at Red Bull have been a far cry from what he was achieving whilst at the helm of a Visa Cash App RB car and it seems to have started to take a toll on Tsunoda.

Speaking in the media pen following the conclusion of the British Grand Prix, the Red Bull man told reporters, “When it comes to the long run, it’s something that always is very outstandingly slow somehow. Just degging [degrading the tyres] like crazy – I never had this kind of feeling.

“I know we were running quite low downforce, but to be honest I had still good confidence in the rain. The rain pace was absolutely nowhere, so I’m a bit lost.”

When prompted about if there are any positives he can take from the race, he replied, “Yeah, a couple of positives from the dry conditions. On one lap it was pretty good, but yeah, the long run is something to look at more.”

Red Bull need to see an improvement in Tsunoda’s results

It’s no secret that the management over at Red Bull are very results-driven, and if it hasn’t happened already, then it’s only a matter of time before some serious conversations are held regarding Tsunoda’s place in the team.

17-year-old Arvid Lindblad impressed Red Bull during FP1 at Silverstone by holding a closer margin to Verstappen’s fastest time than Tsunoda was able to manage in FP2.

To make matters worse for the Japanese driver, Tsunoda has been tipped to leave the F1 grid altogether at the end of the season if things don’t improve.

Team principal Christian Horner has also found himself under pressure from the Austrian constructor’s bosses, who aren’t happy with the team going backwards compared with their rivals.

The Belgian Grand Prix is up next for them, where Tsunoda will be hoping to top his career-best finish of P10 at Spa-Francorchamps and bring home a solid haul of points, which may give him a much-needed lifeline.