Yuki Tsunoda’s transition to the Red Bull team has proven difficult so far, as his performances have struggled to match the high expectations set by the promotion from Racing Bulls earlier in the 2025 Formula 1 season. The Hungarian Grand Prix brought another underwhelming result, yet Tsunoda remained optimistic, pointing to some encouraging signs amid the disappointment. His weekend began on the back foot with a lack of pace during practice and continued with a P16 result in qualifying. He ultimately crossed the line in 17th after finding it nearly impossible to progress through the narrow and twisty layout of the Hungaroring.
However, unlike in previous outings, Tsunoda was not drastically behind his teammate, Max Verstappen, who is a four-time world champion. Verstappen himself had a challenging race and only managed to salvage two points with a ninth-place finish. Tsunoda emphasized that although his qualifying result appeared poor on paper, the actual performance gap was minimal. Just missing out on Q2 by a tenth of a second, he suggested that the performance improvements he’s made recently are starting to show—even if the final results haven’t yet reflected them.
The Japanese driver was particularly encouraged by the narrowing time difference between himself and Verstappen. During Q1, Verstappen’s best lap was just 0.163 seconds quicker than Tsunoda’s—a notable improvement compared to previous races, such as Spa and Silverstone, where the deficit was closer to half a second. Tsunoda pointed out that his introduction to a more competitive package has helped close that gap, especially in short runs. He also said that Saturday’s qualifying was one of the closest he’s been to Verstappen in years, a sign of real progress that both he and the team could take pride in.
Despite the gains in qualifying, Tsunoda’s race performance was heavily compromised. He reported that the car sustained damage during the race, which further reduced its already limited pace. The Hungaroring, being a circuit notoriously difficult for overtaking, didn’t help matters. Tsunoda admitted that the team had a poor baseline pace heading into the race and that the added damage essentially ended any chance of climbing through the field. These setbacks overshadowed what had otherwise been a weekend of personal improvement.
As Formula 1 heads into the summer break, Tsunoda can take solace in his growing competitiveness relative to Verstappen, even if the points haven’t come yet. He acknowledged that there hasn’t been much time to pause, but he remains focused on the bigger picture. Tsunoda praised Red Bull’s development work over the first half of the season, describing the progress as “incredible.” He hopes that the upward trend continues after the break, especially with the next round at Zandvoort, where the team aims for a stronger showing after a Hungarian GP that may have exposed more track-specific weaknesses than general issues with the car.
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