Yuki Tsunoda to start F1 Sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix from pit lane

MIAMI, Florida — After what he called “poor communication” saw him qualifying in P18 for Saturday’s F1 Sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda is set to start from pit lane after Red Bull changed the suspension of his car after the qualifying session.

Tsunoda only posted an initial push lap in SQ1 and was in the drop zone ahead of his second effort. But as he was headed to the start/finish line to begin that final push lap at the end of the session he was behind teammate Max Verstappen, who slowed down when he realized he did not need to go again.

That caused Tsunoda to slow, and he did not get to the start/finish line before time expired, meaning he was the first to take the checkered flag, and was out in SQ1.

“A lot of cars cost my lap quite a lot,” said Tsunoda to the official F1 channel after the session.

“First lap … yeah, to be honest that’s it. In the last corner I had quite a lock-up, but to be honest the lap was pretty gone already from Turn 1 because of the car at pit exit. Just [wasn’t] able to do a proper lap at all, so that’s it.

“Communication is pretty poor as well and, just in general, I didn’t [do] a proper Qualifying.”

As for whether he can fight to the front in today’s session, Tsunoda tempered expectations, before the suspension changes were made requiring a pit lane start.

“It’s pretty far back,” he said on Friday. “I’ll try my best obviously, anything can happen at this track. I keep positive and I’ll do my best.”

What could be a factor here in Miami is the weather. It has been raining on and off throughout the morning, and the F1 Academy qualifying session is running in slick conditions, with some drivers using the wet tire compound. That could give Tsunoda a chance to move forward if the opportunity strikes.