Despite strong pace and a stellar Sprint, Racing Bulls left China without Sunday points—strategy and reliability once again let them down.
After showing impressive speed in both qualifying and the F1 Sprint, Racing Bulls looked poised for a strong weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix. Yuki Tsunoda even grabbed the team’s first points of the season with a solid sixth place in the Sprint.
But when it came to the main race, it all fell apart.
Both Tsunoda and rookie Isack Hadjar finished outside the top 10, with the team struggling through a mix of questionable strategy calls and a concerning front wing failure on Yuki’s car late in the race.
Team principal Laurent Mekies didn’t sugarcoat the disappointment.
“A frustrating Sunday in Shanghai,” he admitted.
“That’s two races in a row where we’ve missed out on points that were within our reach, given the pace of the car and the performance of our drivers. There’s still a lot of work ahead to tighten things up and make sure we’re maximizing every opportunity.”
Despite the result, Mekies highlighted some key positives from the weekend.
“The pace was exceptional, both drivers were pushing hard, and we had both cars in Q3. The Sprint was a real high point—Yuki did a fantastic job to bring home our first points.”
“We have a fast car, fast drivers, and we were fighting with the best for most of the weekend.”
The team will now analyze the cause of the late-race front wing issue on Tsunoda’s car, as they regroup between their Faenza and Milton Keynes bases ahead of the next round in Japan—a special home race for both Tsunoda and engine partner Honda.
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Racing Bulls Falter on Shanghai Sunday Racing Bulls Falter on Shanghai Sunday
