Tsunoda baffled by "mysterious" early Sprint Qualifying exit

Yuki Tsunoda was left baffled by getting eliminated in the first session of Sprint Qualifying at the Brazil Grand Prix.

The Red Bull Racing driver, who suffered a crash during the single practice session of the weekend, opted against blaming his practice session incident before admitting he generally lacked grip throughout his run in SQ1.

"I wouldn’t say so, to be honest. It didn't help, but at the same time, how I ended up in FP1 was pretty good. I still did enough short runs and long runs as well. The lap was pretty okay in qualifying — just what I’ve done — so, it’s mysterious,” he told the media in the aftermath of the Sprint qualifying session.

He added: “Just a lack of grip overall, to be honest. But the lap itself, I can’t really find why I’m suddenly so off."

Yuki Tsunoda during the Brazil GP Sprint qualifying - Photo: Race Pictures

Tsunoda qualified in 18th place for the Sprint, only ahead of Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz

Tsunoda on the weather for the Sprint race

The Japanese driver also weighed in on the possible mixed conditions that could affect the Sprint. The 25-year-old, however, stated that he is more focused on unlocking more performance from the car at the Interlagos circuit rather than hoping for a weather-affected race.

He concluded: “Mixed conditions. I don’t really want to pray for rain or dry conditions, but so far, I have to find something in the car because I just don’t understand why."

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