Tsunoda laments ‘worst start’ of his career as he fails to score in Singapore

Yuki Tsunoda was left crestfallen in the wake of the Singapore Grand Prix as the Japanese racer failed to score points under the lights at Marina Bay. Much of that was to do with his start, which he called “the worst” of his racing career.

Tsunoda qualified 15th after a poor showing on Saturday, but started 13th thanks to the two Williams cars being disqualified following the session. While he got off the line well as the lights went out on Sunday, it soon started to go very wrong for the Red Bull man.

Firstly, he found himself squeezed between the man he replaced at Red Bull Liam Lawson, and Nico Hulkenberg, who was rejoining the track after running wide. Getting on the brakes early with nowhere to go, Tsunoda then lost momentum and found himself picked off by the Alpine of Franco Colapinto.

That was then compounded by Gabriel Bortoleto making his way past, as did Lance Stroll, leaving Tsunoda down in 17th position. Having started on the soft tyres in order to make up positions off the line, it left the Japanese star with a mountain to climb as he was forced into an early pit stop to get rid if the C5 rubber.

Although he fought back in the race to come home 12th, it was a far cry from what he and the team expected at a track that did seem to suit the RB21 more than it has done in the past.

“Probably the worst start I have ever done in my life,” Tsunoda said. “Well, the start itself was okay, I can’t imagine what I saw there but just lost the... I didn’t have a place to go to be honest, every space I tried to go was covered by someone just randomly so a terrible first lap.

“It was a shame as the pace was really, really good afterwards. So yeah, I don’t know what to say with that first lap, honestly. The worst start ever.”

Tsunoda’s early Red Bull career featured his fair share of race day struggles, but the racer's recent form had seen a strong improvement. However, he conceded that he appeared to be lacking pace over one lap having struggled in Singapore Qualifying.

“I have to find the reason why I’m lacking on pace, or tyre preparation or grip feeling on one lap," he explained. "I’ve had that since the previous race. Definitely something I have to figure it out.

“It’s a shame as the long run now is really, really good. Like completely the opposite situation compared to before Azerbaijan. And now the one lap pace is struggling a little bit. I just have to put it all together now, it will come together.”

Tsunoda has five top-10 Grand Prix finishes now since joining Red Bull, his sixth place in Baku by far his best result. But instead of building on that drive with a strong showing in Singapore, he was unable to deliver what he hoped.

“It was not a good Saturday for Yuki,” said Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies. “I think honestly on Friday, personally I was satisfied with the work he has done on Friday. It was not looking spectacular on page one, but looking at every single lap, I think it was at the right level on Friday.

“Then Saturday was poor, we needed to work with him to understand what derailed it. Today the first lap was certainly shocking, but from that point onwards I think he has done a very decent race.

“He came back from I think P18 to P12 with very decent pace. So, we had a very poor Saturday, it's costing us this weekend and a few points, and we'll work with him to improve together.”