Tsunoda concedes ‘nothing worked’ in Sao Paulo after ‘one of the worst weekends’

Yuki Tsuonda was left scratching his head after what he called “one of the worst weekends” in Brazil.

Red Bull endured a difficult time in Brazil, with Max Verstappen’s drive from pit lane to podium on Sunday adding some much-needed gloss.

For Tsunoda, however, there was no such reprieve, as early contact with Lance Stroll earned him a 10-second penalty, while he then earned a second sanction for failing to serve the penalty correctly, before crossing the line last of the classified finishers in P17.

“It’s just a shame,” reflected Tsunoda. “Literally, nothing worked this weekend. When something works, something didn’t work at the same time.

“One of the worst weekends. I don’t know why. We just struggled with the grip overall, and that’s it.”

Of the contact that had sent Stroll into a spin, Tsunoda added: “I don’t know. It’s a shame about the contact. I didn’t notice that I even had contact, so I’m sorry for him. That’s it.”

Tsunoda is believed to be fighting for his Red Bull future, with Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar rumoured to be in the frame for a promotion.

While attempting to take what positives he could from Tsunoda’s performance, Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies agreed with his driver’s assessment of the weekend.

“Of course, it's a bit unfortunate,” he said. “He lost a lot of time in that contact, got the extra 10 seconds penalty, then we made a mistake on our side, we got another 10 seconds extra penalty.

“So, it's a shame, it doesn't seem to be going our way. His last stint in clean air is strong. You can do it yourself, if you take the race plot and remove these 2 x 10 seconds, you actually end up in a decent fight for points.

“But again, it's the same thing, would and should don't win races, so we can only pocket the last strong stint in clean air that he has done.”