Tsunoda expresses frustration after disappointing sprint qualifying: 'Had expected updates'

20:40, 25 Jul

byCas van de Kleut

Yuki Tsunoda could have played a very important role for himself and teammate Max Verstappen. Oscar Piastri was on the brink of elimination in SQ2, but partly because the Japanese driver did not improve, the Australian was able to take the sprint pole in SQ3. Tsunoda responded disappointedly to his early elimination.

The Japanese driver started: “Today has not been the best, during Sprint Quali I was struggling with the drive and missed out by six hundredths of a second, the grid was very tight and I tried my best. Every time that you look back, which as a team we will do today, you can always see what there is to improve on, but it is still frustrating."

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Tsunoda added: "We expected to bring some new parts to my car this race, but unfortunately, I have to wait a little longer, but I will continue to try my hardest until they come. We are working well together as an engineering team and with the package that we have in terms of the set up at the moment, but there is definitely a tight sensation with the car right now which means you really have to keep everything together."

For Tsunoda, his elimination in SQ2 means he has to start from P12. Only the top eight score points in the sprint race, so the Japanese driver will have to work his way to the front to not go into the qualifier empty-handed. Teammate Max Verstappen starts the sprint race in second place, behind Oscar Piastri.