Yuki Tsunoda has admitted he must reach Q3 this weekend having failed to qualify in the top 10 for the last three rounds.
The Red Bull driver’s last Q3 appearance was at the Miami Grand Prix. Since then he crashed in Q1 at Imola, claimed 12th on the grid in Monaco but qualified last in Spain.
His lap times have tended to be closer to those of team mate Max Verstappen in Friday practice sessions. Tsunoda ended practice today 15th, but within three-tenths of a second of his team mate.
At times this year Tsunoda has been confused by his lack of pace despite feeling comfortable with his car’s handling. He said “the feeling is okay” after today’s practice session and expects to go quicker on Saturday.
“I know there’s something coming for tomorrow which is good,” said Tsunoda. “That will give hopefully a bit of lap time there, free lap time.”
Tsunoda was not among the four drivers who took a fresh power unit for practice today.
“Other than that, I think it was good progress in terms of set-up,” he added. “Obviously not enough in the end so let’s find out and improve for tomorrow.”
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While Verstappen has reached Q3 in every round this year and Tsunoda said he must join him this weekend. “I definitely have to be in Q3,” he said. “That’s the target.
“Let’s see how it goes tomorrow. Like I said, there’s something to come tomorrow, let’s see how the behaviour [is] with that.”
Verstappen said his car felt more comfortable in first practice, when he set the quickest time, than later in the day. “Today was alright to be honest,” he said.
“In FP1 we felt quite happy in the car but FP2 was a bit more difficult for other reasons. There was a bit less balance and we felt a bit less comfortable in the car, which we need to investigate, but overall I think it was quite a positive day for us.
“If we can get it back to what it felt in FP1 we will go well. Tomorrow for qualifying, let’s see. There is still one more session to get it right, we just need to get it in a good window and we can see how far we can get in qualifying.”
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2025 Canadian Grand Prix
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