Helmut Marko points finger of blame for Red Bull title 'write-off'

Helmut Marko has pointed the finger at Yuki Tsunoda for there "no longer" being a chance of Red Bull winning the F1 constructors' championship this season.

The Japanese driver stepped into the drive alongside Max Verstappen two rounds into the current campaign, in place of Liam Lawson, so he cannot take full responsibility for the issue the Milton Keynes squad continues to endure with its second seat.

However, Marko underlined the inherent problem for Red Bull, labelling Tsunoda's recent run of form as "obviously not satisfactory" after scoring just one point across the recent European triple-header in Imola, Monaco, and Barcelona.

Following the Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull sits fourth in the constructors' table on 144 points, 218 adrift of leaders McLaren.

It is a similar situation to the one the team suffered through last season with Sergio Perez. Despite Verstappen taking his fourth successive drivers' title, the Woking squad and Ferrari beat Red Bull in the constructors' standings.

"In the constructors' championship, we've already written off the overall victory; we no longer have a chance there," Marko wrote in his column for Speedweek.

"This is, of course, also due to the second driver, because Yuki Tsunoda is only slowly getting going...

"Tsunoda has scored one world championship point in the last three races, and that's obviously not satisfactory."

Tsunoda given season thumbs-up

Having recovered from his terrifying crash during qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix to finish P10, Tsunoda went scoreless in Monaco and at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where he was slowest during the grid-setting session.

Marko was quick to highlight that whilst the 25-year-old does not have the exact same specification of equipment as Verstappen - a consequence of his shunt at Imola - he is only a tenth of a second off the Dutchman in practice.

However, the situation worsens when the stakes are raised, with Marko opining that Tsunoda "struggles under pressure".

"Unfortunately, he destroyed the new underbody and other new parts in the crash at Imola, so he's not currently running the same setup as Max," the Austrian stated.

"This is also due to time constraints, as a new underbody takes at least three weeks to complete. We're working hard to ensure he has the new parts on the car in Canada, and we expect that to work out.

"But that's not the deciding factor. What's serious is that Yuki is often only a tenth of a second behind in free practice, and when it comes to qualifying, the gap widens.

"Then the pressure is on, and he struggles under pressure. In addition, he can't adapt as quickly as Max, who doesn't need a settling-in period."

Nonetheless, the 82-year-old maintained that despite the issues Tsunoda is currently dealing with, Red Bull is not planning for any further unforced line-up changes this year.

"For Yuki, on the other hand, the car isn't as present yet; he's having more trouble with it, and of course, there's always some adjustment work involved because you try a lot when you're at the back," he said.

"He needs more time, and he'll get it. We expect him to be in the car until the end of the season."