Yuki Tsunoda has denied that the missed laps in FP1 in Brazil resulted in his disappointing sprint qualifying result.
Tsunoda spun at Turn 5 during the sole free practice session on Friday from Interlagos, suffering minor damage to his car.
It placed the Japanese driver on the back foot ahead of sprint qualifying where he sought to bounce back with a strong result as he fights for his future at the Red Bull squad.
However, Tsunoda could only muster the 19th fastest lap, going faster than only Carlos Sainz with whom he will share the back row of the grid on Saturday.
When asked if his FP1 shunt contributed to his eventual early qualifying, exit, Tsunoda said: “No, I wouldn’t say so to be honest.
“It didn’t help, but how I ended up in FP1 was pretty good. I still did enough short runs and long runs as well.
“The lap was pretty okay in qualifying, just what I’ve done. So, it’s mysterious. Just a lack of grip, overall. But the lap itself, I can’t really find why I’m slow.”
Saturday's day of on-track action is expected to be heavily disrupted by rainfall and heavy wind.
Tsunoda declared he is unbothered by the status of the conditions, asserting his priority is finding how to unlock more pace from the car.
“Let’s see. Mixed conditions, I don’t really want to pray for rain or it to be dry, I just have to find something in the car.
“I just don’t understand why [I’m struggling].”
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