Former Formula 1 driver-turned pundit Giedo van der Garde has urged Yuki Tsunoda to admit “he’s not good enough” after an abject Singapore Grand Prix.
Tsunoda appeared to have turned a corner in his difficult campaign with Red Bull last time out at Azerbaijan, taking sixth amid a battle with former Racing Bulls stablemate Liam Lawson.
The Japanese driver found form at the right time, with Racing Bulls’ second driver Isack Hadjar being tipped to take the seat alongside Max Verstappen next year.
And Tsunoda’s cause wasn’t helped by a regression at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, finishing 12th and a lap down, whilst Verstappen finished second.
Following the race, a rueful Tsunoda labelled his opening lap, in which he lost ground to cars around him, “was the worst start or the first lap ever in my life.”
This was compounded by the fact that he felt the pace he had was “one of the best I’ve had in my Red Bull career so far.”
But it cut no ice with van der Garde who, speaking to Viaplay, delivered a scathing judgement on Tsunoda’s race.
“Ouch! What a painful interview,” he said. “He’s completely lost. Firstly, he was lapped by his team-mate.
“Secondly, he can say his pace was very good and that he was fast, but he was really very slow. Thirdly, that opening lap was a disaster.”
Van der Garde believes Tsunoda’s body language was a big giveaway as to being “completely lost” and indicated that it is perhaps time to accept his time with Red Bull may be up.
“You can see it in his interview,” he expressed. “He doesn’t know what to say or where to look. He’s completely lost.
“He has no one to blame. He can only look in the mirror and say he’s not good enough.”
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