Was that the upswing that Yuki Tsunoda needed? After a long dry spell, the Japanese made it back in Q3 for the first time since Miami (i.e. for seven races) and won his best qualifying result for Red Bull with seventh place in qualifying in Spa-Francorchamps.
Perhaps it was a little bit of the new collaboration with his former team boss Laurent Mekies, who has been sitting at the command since Belgium, but above all the upswing came on a new underbody that tsunoda has in Belgium on the car.
So far, Tsunoda has always had to cope with significantly older material than his teammate Max Verstappen, now he has caught up in this regard – even if it is still not the most important version of the underbody.
In the sprint, the Japanese was previously traveling with the old variant, but Red Bull upgraded his car again for qualifying. “The team also did a really good job to get the upgrades before qualifying. That was crucial to be in this position,” he says.
“The mechanics really gave everything. They managed to get the car ready – usually it would not have been enough for qualifying. This use alone means a lot to me.”
“There are still a few little things missing, but the new underbody was big enough that I could feel a difference – I definitely feel much more comfortable.”
Tsunoda feels more grip
Tsunoda says that he mainly feels more grip in the car. “We have seen on paper for a few races that there are differences. The gap to Max was never huge. So we knew in the technology group and I themselves that we were working in the right direction.”
“The new underbody simply gives more stability. At the same, you oversteer once and then the car never came back. You can drive the new one more aggressive,” he explains. This was shown in qualifying: Tsunoda’s gap on Verstappen was 0.381 seconds as low – apart from the short round in Spielberg.
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“If you take the upgrades and everything else into account, we were actually quite close,” he says.
The new team boss Laurent Mekies is at least satisfied: “It was a very, very good step forward this weekend for Yuki,” he emphasizes at F1TV. “It’s nice to see him in Q3 – he has developed well across the sessions. That certainly gives him a boost for his self -confidence.”
“We only equipped the car with the new underbody shortly before qualifying because we work with our partial quotas at the limit. It was a risk, but we took it – so it was a little close for qualifying,” said Mekies. “But it was worth it. The upgrade definitely helped bring its performance to a new level.”
And so he and Tsunoda were able to revive an old tradition, as the Japanese reveals after qualifying: “At VCarb he always smiled at me when I came from Q2 in Q3. Today he did exactly the same thing – smiled at me and showed me that I did a good job,” he says. “It was a nice memory of earlier times.”
Verstappen is happy about tsunoda increase
Although he still lacks a very job to be a real help for teammates Max Verstappen, but the four -time world champion also finds that Tsunoda’s increase is “good for the team”. “We have to score with both cars,” he knows.
“As far as the support is concerned: it is clear to have two cars in front, but you always have to rely on your own strength. If you are fast enough, you don’t need support. But it is important for the team that both points,” said.
Points are only distributed on Sunday. Tsunoda has been waiting for a top 10 result since Imola. Possible rain, of course, makes Sunday difficult, but can also make opportunities possible.
“I am still confident,” he says. “We have adapted the set-up in the direction of ‘hybrid’, i.e. with compromises for dry conditions like today in qualifying. If it rains tomorrow, we are better positioned. If it had remained completely dry, the set-up might be mega-but a disaster in the rain. So we are quite well positioned.”