Tsunoda sees himself as a 'sitting duck' for the Monaco Grand Prix

18:05, 24 May

byOlly Darcy

Yuki Tsunoda does not see much happening for him at the Monaco Grand Prix, saying he sees himself as "a sitting duck" as he starts P12 on the grid.

The Japanese driver was unable to reach Q3 again, struggling to find the pace when it mattered the most.

Teammate Max Verstappen will start from fifth on the grid in the Principality, while Tsunoda will be much further back.

Tsunoda not seeing many chances in Monaco

"I mean, the pace was there throughout the week," Tsunoda started by saying while speaking in the paddock at Monaco to several media sources, including GPblog.

"Apart from the sessions that I always got in traffic or didn't get a lap, I was running pretty close with Max, so that shows the pace was there, the quali pace was there until today. Very frustrating.

"The car was better. I mean, in FP3 I didn't have any laps, to be honest, with the softs. But until then, even though I had quite a lot of flat spots with the medium compound, I was running very close with Max, so it was pretty good," continued the Japanese driver.

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However, even though there is some positivity for the Red Bull Racing driver with his pace, he is not expecting much in tomorrow's race, even though there are some questions about what might happen with the mandatory two-stop rule.

"I don't know. I think every team, some teams at the front, are going to do something interesting. Yeah, I don't think it's going to be straightforward. I think it's hard to predict as well. But yeah, I'll do my best.

"I think, to be honest, the position I’m in, you're almost a sitting duck, sitting almost to the car behind. I’ll try to overtake, but obviously, there's always risk as well here, so if I see opportunities, I'll go for it," concluded Tsunoda.

This article was written in collaboration with Marnik Kok