Tsunoda laments ‘pretty tough’ Qualifying after battling ‘some strange issue’ on his way to P20 in Spain

Yuki Tsunoda was left searching for answers after ending Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix down in 20th and last place, with the Japanese driver admitting that he realistically is “a bit less hopeful” about his prospects for race day.

It had been a tricky start to the weekend in Barcelona for Tsunoda during Friday’s practice sessions as he remained some way off the pace of team mate Max Verstappen across FP1 and FP2, taking P9 and P13 in those sessions respectively.

READ MORE: Piastri beats Norris to pole position in thrilling Spanish GP Qualifying as McLaren lock out front row

After admitting that he was “struggling”, the 25-year-old’s fortunes did not improve come Saturday, with the #22 car exiting Qualifying in Q1 meaning that he will line up on the back row of the grid for Sunday’s race.

“It’s pretty tough,” Tsunoda said of his session. “Throughout the week we… I tried to solve the issue as much as possible. I was mentioning from FP1 that I had some strange issue that [the car] was just not gripping at all.

“We tried our best to solve the issue but I don’t think we [were] able to cure it. Whatever we made in terms of set-up change, it’s always a kind of cluster feeling and it’s not really giving an overall step forwards.

HIGHLIGHTS: Relive the Qualifying action as Piastri snatches pole position from Norris in Spain

“It’s a shame, honestly the lap itself was okay. There’s not much [where] I had a mistake or whatever in both laps. Even probably if we put the three sets [of tyres on], I don’t think I would have been able to… With that pace, it’s going to be tough.”

Pushed on how he will reset for the 66-lap encounter on Sunday, Tsunoda suggested that there could be other issues at play for the race.

“The thing is it also applies to the long-run pace as well,” he explained. “[In] FP2, the long-run pace was really bad.

READ MORE: Verstappen keen to ‘see what we can do’ from P3 on grid in Spain as he admits McLaren will be ‘tough to beat’

“It just isn’t a good feeling, so far what I feel is the car is eating its tyres a lot, and every lap whatever I do I have the degradation. But, anyway, hopefully the set-up change made a step forward. I’m hoping it will be better, but realistically I’m a little bit less hopeful.”

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