Tsunoda under pressure as Red Bull weighs 2026 lineup

Yuki Tsunoda’s place in Red Bull’s lineup for next season came under fresh scrutiny after a troubled weekend at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, where the Japanese driver qualified 13th, dropped several places on the opening lap, was lapped by teammate Max Verstappen and finished outside the points in 12th. The result left Tsunoda still on 20 championship points as the team prepares decisions on its 2026 driver line up.

Tsunoda described his start at Marina Bay as the low point of the weekend. "It definitely was the worst start or the first lap ever in my life," he said, describing how he found himself boxed in and unable to make progress on the circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult. He added that the opening laps made his race substantially harder, even though he felt his longer‑run pace had improved. "To be honest, the pace was one of the best I’ve had in my Red Bull career so far," he said, while acknowledging he still needs to extract single‑lap grip.

Team principal Laurent Mekies acknowledged the weekend was inconsistent. He said Friday work had been satisfactory but that Saturday’s qualifying performance was poor and cost the team points, and he signalled...