24/05/2025 06:15
Yuki Tsunoda is hoping that "luck" will be on his side in the Monaco Grand Prix, following a disruptive opening day at the Circuit de Monaco. The Red Bull driver finished second practice down in 11th on the timesheets but only a position behind team-mate Max Verstappen. It was a frustrating day for Tsunoda, who revealed that he only completed one medium tyre lap in first practice due to a red flag. Finding space on the track has already proven to be a huge challenge; however, Tsunoda enjoyed a more positive FP2. "Yeah, as usual, bit of traffic, obviously it's the story here," said Tsunoda. "But yeah, I think the same as everyone it's all up to almost like luck to get a lap. "And in first practice I didn't have any luck. Fortunately, I had a bit more laps in FP2. Yeah, it was alright, I think at least [we are] able to read kind of the limitation from the softs. "But it's kind of similar, still [the same] limitation, what I had in FP1. I just don't feel much step from the soft tyre in terms of grip. So that's what I'm struggling on a little bit." Friday marked the closest Tsunoda has been to Verstappen since joining Red Bull ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, with him starting to make progress with the RB21. He has recognised that more time is needed and is hopeful of delivering a strong qualifying at the venue where it is most important. "It's getting there," added Tsunoda. "At least it went better, we made a step from FP1, but yeah, need a couple bits more from the car. "So try to squeeze that. Yeah, I need a couple of tenths more. We'll see how it goes, I'm sure we can. There's a bit of potential there, so I'll try to squeeze it out of myself. "Just keep what I'm doing to build up and build up the pace and hopefully I can put it all together in qualifying."
