After his major crash in Imola, Yuki Tsunoda now primarily aims to keep his car intact in Monaco. However, the Red Bull vehicle is not an easy one to drive on the bumpy and narrow street circuit in the Principality. “Therefore, I’m starting a bit more cautiously to build confidence,” he says.
“To be honest, the crash in Imola wouldn’t have happened if I understood the car a bit better,” Tsunoda reflects in Monaco. “I wasn’t pushing extremely hard. It’s more a lack of knowledge about how the car’s behavior changes after adjusting the setup. I tried something new, but the Red Bull car changed more than I was used to with Racing Bulls.”
The Japanese driver admits that his approach may not be the best while he is still in the early stages with Red Bull. “Perhaps I should take it a bit easier when I want to try something different. On the other hand, it’s not like I did something extreme, I’ve been doing this my entire career.”
To what extent will this affect him this weekend in Monaco? Precisely here, you need to be one with the car to race as fast as possible on the circuit. “They say that the Red Bull car is not suitable for a bumpy track like this one. Max Verstappen also told me that it’s not an easy car for Monaco. Therefore, I need to primarily build confidence and hopefully, I can then have a good qualification run. Perhaps that’s why I’m going to start the weekend a bit more cautiously.”
