Laurent Mekies Insists Yuki Tsunoda's Italian GP Was Still "Good" Amidst Contract Pressure

Laurent Mekies, Red Bull team principal, has asserted that Yuki Tsunoda's Italian Grand Prix weekend was "good," despite the Japanese driver failing to score points once again. This assessment comes as Tsunoda faces increasing scrutiny regarding his future in Formula 1.

Why it matters:

Yuki Tsunoda is under immense pressure as his contract with Racing Bulls expires at the end of 2025. With only nine points scored since his move from Racing Bulls, his performance is being closely monitored by Red Bull, who will make a decision on his 2026 contract soon.

The big picture:

Red Bull's evaluation of drivers focuses on "quali pace, race pace." While Tsunoda finished 13th in the race after incidents with Liam Lawson and Lewis Hamilton, which caused significant damage to his car, Mekies highlighted his strong qualifying performance.

• Qualifying performance: Tsunoda was just two tenths of a second behind Max Verstappen in Q1 and Q2, and successfully put the car into Q3. Mekies noted that being first on the road in Q3 also made it challenging for him to extract maximum performance.
• Race challenges: Mekies acknowledged that assessing Tsunoda's race pace from the Italian GP was difficult due to traffic in the first stint and car damage in the second. He described it as a "poor sample" for a clean evaluation.

What's next:

Mekies admitted that the team likely needs to work more on Tsunoda's race pace compared to his qualifying speed. However, he emphasized the need for more "clean sample" races to make a definitive assessment. Red Bull has indicated that a decision on Tsunoda's future will be made around the Mexican Grand Prix.