IndyCar star blames Red Bull's "strategic error" for Yuki Tsunoda's qualifying failure in Japan

IndyCar star James Hinchcliffe pointed out Red Bull's strategic mistake after Yuki Tsunoda got knocked out in Q2 in qualifying for the Japanese GP, his home race. This was Tsunoda's first qualifying session for the team, having replaced Liam Lawson after the Chinese GP.

Tsunoda's first lap in Q2 was on used Soft tires, and his lap time of 1:28.154 was only good enough for P14. It was over a second slower than table-topper Lando Norris and nearly 6.5-tenths slower than teammate Max Verstappen in P3. The session was then red-flagged with over eight minutes remaining as the grass on a part of the Suzuka circuit caught fire.

When the session resumed, Yuki Tsunoda came out on fresh Softs. However, his final lap time was the slowest among the 15 drivers, five-tenths of a second slower than Verstappen in P3. Six-time IndyCar race winner James Hinchcliffe, who serves as an F1TV analyst, highlighted Red Bull's mistake of not using the fresh Softs on Tsunoda's RB21 in the first outing in Q2.

"That tire strategy of waiting for that new set for the end there... when the red (flag) comes out, you're sat there, he was P14 at the time - the pressure is on. If another red comes out, one little mistake, you haven't got that good banker (lap)," Hinchcliffe said on the F1TV broadcast.

As the replays of Tsunoda's mistakes in Turn 1 and 2 played on the broadcast, the former IndyCar driver added:

"He's a bit wide at the first apex, bit wide at the second one as well, the back kicks out. And then it's already in your head. You're behind on the clock. You maybe start overdriving or underdriving to not make any more mistakes. But they (Red Bull) didn't have to put him in that position by not letting him run that first run on a new set (of soft tires). So potentially, it is a little bit of a strategic error there from Red Bull."

Tsunoda was out-qualified by former VCARB teammate Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson, the man he replaced at Red Bull. Verstappen ultimately took pole position in Q3 with a monster lap, with the two McLarens behind him.

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IndyCar's James Hinchcliffe proposes Max Verstappen's move to VCARB if Yuki Tsunoda fails at Red Bull

Max Verstappen with Yuki Tsunoda at the F1 Grand Prix Of Japan - Source: Getty

Red Bull received a load of flak for replacing rookie Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda after only two disappointing performances in 2025, which IndyCar driver Conor Daly found 'wild and sad'. However, three of his predecessors in that second Red Bull seat had failed similarly in trying to match teammate Max Verstappen.

This led to the finding that Red Bull's car isn't easy to adapt to, with only Verstappen able to conquer it. Contrastingly, junior team VCARB's car seemed to have better driveability this year than the Red Bull car.

IndyCar stars Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe discussed the possibility of what could happen if Lawson, in a VCARB, out-qualified Yuki Tsunoda, with Hinchcliffe saying on the 'Off Track with Hinch and Rossi' podcast [39:25 onwards]:

"They put Max in a Racing Bull. Because if the car is that much better, or at least that much more drivable... but here's the thing, right? You go back to, only been two races. I think in Australia, Max was a 10th and a half off pole, or maybe I was even in China. It was like 0.17 or something. So like over a lap, the car's got some pretty serious pace, right? So you have to believe that Max in an RB is going to be at least three-tenths quicker than Yuki on pure single-lap pace."

Hinchcliffe also serves as an IndyCar analyst for FOX and will be seen at the Long Beach GP from April 11 to 13.