Both Racing Bulls drivers, Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar, delivered impressive performances in qualifying, earning spots in the top 10 for the Chinese Grand Prix.
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How Racing Bulls’ 2025 Qualifying Compares to 2024
In the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix qualifying session, Yuki Tsunoda struggled to find the pace needed to advance to Q2. With the car lacking speed, he settled for P19, finishing ahead of former Williams Racing driver Logan Sargeant and behind future Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton. Meanwhile, former F1 driver, Daniel Ricciardo managed to push the car to P12. However, the 2025 season has shown massive improvement, with both Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar making it into Q3.
A “Satisfying result” for Hadjar
After a tough F1 debut, with a DNF before the Australian Grand Prix even began, rookie driver Isack Hajdar has bounced back with resilience, making up for the initial obstacle.
“Yesterday, already they were on it and they gave me a really good car,” he stated. “I made a mistake and today I didn’t, so I finished the job. It’s a satisfying one.”
During the final moments of SQ2 in Sprint Qualifying on Friday, the Frenchman lost a bit of pace and was unable to reach SQ3. As a result, he secured P15, but this gave his teammate a tow, allowing him to make it into SQ3 and start P8 for the Sprint Race. Labelling this situation as a “mistake”, Hadjar proceeded to the Sprint Race with his chin up, finishing P13.
The rapid pace of the car shocked many, with Hadjar finishing P4 at the end of Q2, ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda, both Ferrari and Mercedes drivers, and behind the McLaren of Oscar Piastri and last season’s two championship contenders, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
His performance in Q3 saw him climb past rookie Kimi Antonelli, grabbing the P7 spot.
Tsunoda Optimistic to Score Double Points
Despite the positives of reaching Q3, Tsunoda admitted he struggled to finish the lap.
“I struggled in Q3, I made a bit of a mistake there. I had a bit of momentum in T13, I went off the track and wasn’t able to finish the lap. Until then it was a good lap.”, he expressed, “Apologies to the team, but still I think I’ll take it”.
Tsunoda believes that because both cars are “in the mix”, they should be able to score points tomorrow, like they did in the Sprint race. Therefore, this provides hope for the team, who have been performing significantly well so far this season, that they can remain competitive for points. At the moment, the team are 7th in the Constructors’ Championship. If they score double points in the Grand Prix, they could snatch 6th from Haas.
Tsunoda will line up in P9, with Hadjar starting just ahead in P7.
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Photo Credit: Red Bull Content Pool