Yuki Tsunoda left searching for answers after ‘tricky’ first day at Spanish Grand Prix

The first two hours of practice ahead of the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix were not kind to Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.

Now the driver is left wondering why he was so “slow” on the track compared to the rest of the grid, as well as teammate Max Verstappen.

Tsunoda finished FP1 down in P9, and then was 13th in FP2. While the driver outlined that he felt like he and the car took a step forward in the second practice, it was still a “tricky” session for him.

“Tricky,” began Tsunoda when asked by the official F1 channel about his day Friday.

“In terms of first day compared to other days [at] other Grands Prix, it felt pretty smooth for myself. I think I made progress, obviously, from FP1 to FP2,” continued the Red Bull driver. “I just don’t have any idea why I am slow. To be honest the lap was pretty good as well considering [it’s] FP2 and obviously it’s not fully 100%. But it’s obviously not the gap that I’m expecting, at least.

“It’s hard to even tell like what kind of exact limitation I have. In terms of balance, it’s okay. So we have to see what we can improve but currently [I’m] struggling.”

Tsunoda’s time was 0.558 seconds off Verstappen’s pace in FP1, and 0.613 seconds off his teammate’s in FP2.

“Hopefully we can find something [in tonight’s debriefing session] otherwise it’s really tough, honestly,” he continued.

“It’s not like I had a massive mistake and I’m being behind compared to competitors quite a lot [due to a mistake]. If I had a mistake, with that result, I’m happy, actually. But it’s not like that.

“Probably it will be a longer night than usual, but obviously there’s a curfew and everything. I’ll try my best to find the solution, but yeah currently it’s not really clear.”

Red Bull has been adept at finding answers on Friday nights this season, but they might need something special to move Tsunoda up the timing sheets during Qualifying on Saturday.