Red Bull direct blame for latest Yuki Tsunoda nightmare

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has blamed the outfit itself for not delivering Yuki Tsunoda with a good enough package for the Hungarian Grand Prix. 

The final event before the F1 summer break was another disaster for Tsunoda, as he found himself eliminated from Q1 for the fourth time in the last eight grands prix. 

To add to his struggles, the Milton Keynes-based outfit made the Japanese driver start from the pit lane, so it could introduce a new power unit from outside his legal pool. 

Whilst it offers Tsunoda more engine security for the remainder of the season, it ended any hope of ending his point-less run. Hungary saw Tsunoda's streak of point-less races extend to seven, marking a new unwanted record for a Red Bull driver.

Max Verstappen also endured a grand prix to forget after only salvaging ninth. Despite the poor result, Mekies praised Tsunoda's performance. 

Mekies highlighted how close the 25-year-old was to Verstappen in qualifying, the closest the Frenchman believes Tsunoda has ever been to the four-time world champion.

"It's the sort of weekend where it's easy to be frustrated, and especially, for both Max and Yuki, because we didn't give them the car that they could compete with," Mekies told select media including RacingNews365 in Hungary.

"And then to add to the party, we got Yuki to start from the pit lane to get another PU in the car for the rest of the season. So it's normal that the frustration is high. 

"The reality is that Yuki qualified, probably for the first time in his career, two-tenths from Max in the first run in Q1, a tenth and a half from Max in the second run of Q1 and Max was not exactly having fun on track. 

"So, it's actually a strong, very strong sample, maybe his best sample so far. And after also the progression in Spa, I think it's something that he and his engineering team have been doing a very good job at."