Red Bull’s Tsunoda baffled by lack of pace as he issues apology after Austria crash

Yuki Tsunoda has issued an apology to Red Bull after his clash with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto during the Austrian Grand Prix. 

The Japanese driver was handed a 10-second penalty for crashing into the Argentine, adding to a disappointing race which ended in a last-place finish for Tsunoda. 

“The collision with Franco is my bad, obviously,” the Red Bull driver explained to Motorsport.com and other media. “The situation I was in, I think, was quite a poor move. I must send apologies to the team how I ended up.”

On top of the collision, Tsunoda also struggled with pace. He revealed that he is unsure what is leading to the difference in pace between him and his team-mate Max Verstappen. 

“And also, at the same time, the pace itself was pretty poor as well. I’m not sure what I’m doing completely wrong, to be honest. But the pace delta between the level I have to be in is massive. But at the same time, obviously, I’m working hard to find the reasons what’s causing the issue.

“Even with seeing the data going through, it’s hard to find, even compared to the engineers, it’s really hard to find in terms of driving style difference with Max. Maybe I’ll have to find from a different kind of view, but for now, it’s hard to find the reasons, but I’ll have to find it anyway.”

The Japanese driver continued, “It’s not like the car is bad, but especially the first few laps, it feels amazing. The thing is, I feel like the tyre is just melting lap by lap, corner by corner. Whatever I do, it’s melting every lap, and I’m feeling less grip lap by lap.

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing Team, Franco Colapinto, Alpine

Photo by: Michael Potts / Motorsport Images

“In that situation, it’s really hard to maintain the pace. I’ve tried multiple stops in this Grand Prix. It’s not working, really, so it’s hard to find the reasons.”

Tsunoda, who replaced Liam Lawson after just two races of the 2025 season, was swift to shut down questions about the support from Red Bull, with him confirming he is being backed fully.

Unfortunately, his last-place finish ended a day to forget at the Red Bull Ring as Max Verstappen retired on lap 1 after a crash with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, leading to the first pointless Grand Prix for the squad in 77 races.