Yuki Tsunoda reacts to 'very rare' misery

Yuki Tsunoda insists he was "missing something" after enduring a torrid qualifying session at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver qualified a lowly P19 for the 50-lap race in Sin City, beating only Lewis Hamilton, who set the slowest grid-setting lap time on pure pace for the first time in his entire F1 career.

With just three rounds of the season remaining, including the weekend in Nevada, Tsunoda needs a strong end to the campaign to prevent losing his seat, with a demotion to Racing Bulls increasingly looking like the best he can hope for.

Reflecting on his session under the lights of the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, the Japanese driver was quick to point out how bad the conditions were in the wet qualifying session.

"Well, I had a yellow flag, to be honest, on my lap, so that didn't help," he told media, including RacingNews365. "But also, at the same time, the grip level I had was very poor."

Rain falling after FP3 and into Q1 left the already low-grip track surface incredibly slippery. Most initially opted for the Intermediate Pirellis, but it soon became apparent that the blue-walled extreme wets were required.

When it was pointed out how unusual it is to see that compound used, Tsunoda replied: "Yeah, very rare. We didn't expect to use the extreme tyre."

Expanding on his answer, he explained his surprise at being so far off the pace, given how well he performed on that same tyre in treacherous conditions at Interlagos in 2024.

"But I don't know, because the last time I wore extreme [tyres] was in Brazil [last season] and I was one second faster than anyone else — and suddenly I'm just three seconds off compared to any other drivers," he said.

"Clearly, I was missing something because I was literally driving on ice, so I don't know what's happened."

Tsunoda labelled the visibility during the session "terrible" and agreed that they were the worst conditions he has ever driven an F1 car in.

"The conditions were very tricky," he added. "I guess this — I don't know specifically — Vegas tarmac is just creating this slippiness, but that's not easy at all."