"This is unbelievable. This is terrible": Fans react as Red Bull issues an apology to Yuki Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda was once again knocked out in Q1 for a Grand Prix weekend, but this time, Red Bull had a role in his failure to get into Q2, which subsequently led team principal, Laurent Mekies, to issue an apology for the Japanese driver. However, this apology didn't go down well with fans as they slammed back at the team for not aiding the 25-year-old get back into a rhythm.

Tsunoda joined the Milton Keynes-based squad three race weekends into the 2025 season. He initially seemed like an improvement on his predecessor, as his pace was stronger than Liam Lawson's. This notion soon started vanishing as Max Verstappen started to claim race victories, all while his teammate was struggling to get inside the points.

One of the key places where Tsunoda has struggled has been in qualifying, and the Las Vegas GP weekend was no different as he qualified 19th for the race. But, this was not entirely down to him, as Red Bull had messed up his tire pressures, changing the car's balance for the worse, leading Mekies to issue an apology:

"We made quite big mistakes with his tyre pressures. These things obviously should not happen. Apologies to Yuki, he was in good rhythm all weekend and it's really painful to take this chance away from him."

Despite the apology, fans were enraged about how Tsunoda does not have all the resources with him to improve his results, as they wrote on X:

"This is unbelievable. This is terrible. Is there really a spy on the team?" "Always apologies and apologies but when is it gonna be actions and making sure it’s not ruining your driver’s weekend for the nth time in a row?" one fan wrote. "Someone said he's the tyre tester, I'm starting to see it," another fan wrote.

Fans further added:

"I know. You’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you?" one netizen wrote. "I'm sorry but look, people already fed up with the apologizing saga," another netizen wrote. "If you truly feel sorry, I would like you to give Yuki a seat again next year," another netizen shared.

Yuki Tsunoda has scored 28 points in the 2025 season.

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Yuki Tsunoda reflects on his torrid qualifying session

Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda after the qualifying for the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Las Vegas - Source: Getty

Yuki Tsunoda will start the Las Vegas GP only ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who also suffered a dismal Q1 elimination. This means that the Japanese driver has a lot to do on the raceday to potentially score some points.

But the mistake with the tire pressures held him back. When coupled with a slippery track, it made him feel like he was driving on ice, as Tsunoda said (via F1):

"I just didn't have any grip, like, completely ice. I did whatever I can, but yeah, just no grip."

Meanwhile, the remaining Red Bull-contracted drivers, Max Verstappen, Liam Lawson, and Isack Hadjar, will start inside the top-10 for the Las Vegas GP.

Edited by Geetansh Pasricha