Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has admitted Yuki Tsunoda's opening lap at the Singapore Grand Prix was “certainly shocking”.
Tsunoda enjoyed his best race with Red Bull two weeks ago with a run to sixth place in Azerbaijan, and arrived in Singapore looking to build on the uplifting performance.
However, the Japanese driver failed to advance into the final segment of qualifying and consolidated a starting position of 13th on the grid.
It marked the 10th time since joining Red Bull this year that he failed to start in the top half of the field.
“It was not a good Saturday for Yuki," Mekies told media including RacingNews365.
"I think honestly, on Friday, personally, I was satisfied with the work he has done.
“It was not looking spectacular on page one, but looking at every single lap, I think it was at the right level on Friday.
“Then Saturday was poor, we need to work with him to understand what derailed it.”
Tsunoda's weekend went from bad to worse on Sunday as a disastrous start saw him drop towards the rear of the pack.
While acknowledging Tsunoda had strong pace to recover a handful of positions, Mekies highlighted the execution of qualifying and the opening lap cost Red Bull valuable points.
“The first lap was certainly shocking, but from that point onward, I think he has done a very decent race,” he said.
“He came back from P18 to P12 or P11, with a very decent pace.
“So we had a very poor Saturday, it's costing us the weekend and a few points, and we'll work with him to improve together.”
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