Red Bull accused of hiding Yuki Tsunoda's true performance

F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve was left baffled when Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies claimed Yuki Tsunoda had a good weekend at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Tsunoda is a driver under pressure, with just four rounds remaining to prove he deserves his seat at one of the top teams in F1. While he has been picking up points more consistently since the summer break, the Japanese racer is still in a different postcode to team-mate Max Verstappen.

The 25-year-old finished outside of the top 10 in 11th place in Mexico, but team principal Mekies was keen to reflect on the positives Tsunoda demonstrated throughout the weekend.

“I think Yuki had his best weekend in a long time,” Mekies explained to the media after the Mexican GP.

“We have said that a few times, but it is true. He was very, very close in Quali to Max [Verstappen]. I think it was two-tenths in Q2.

“Today, the first stint was very, very strong as well, two-tenths, three-tenths to Max, on the same very long first stint on the medium [tyre].

“Then after, fair enough, I think it's on our side, we left him out a bit longer because there was an advantage for us to do that and we had a slightly long pit stop, so we killed a few points that he would have scored on merit. Of course, it's one of the reasons why we want to take a bit more time before we make a decision on drivers.

“Yuki is making steps forward, the other kids are making steps forward as well, so we have no reason to rush a decision, so we will take a bit more time.”

Villeneuve confused by Red Bull’s Tsunoda attitude

Villeneuve wasn’t a fan of Mekies’ more nuanced approach however, with the 1997 world champion being quite a vocal critic of Tsunoda over the course of the Mexican GP weekend.

Referring to Tsunoda’s weekend and Mekies' quotes, Villeneuve strongly disagreed with Mekies’ stance on Sky Sports’ F1 Show podcast.

“I don't understand how a team can say, ‘Oh, he's had a good weekend’. Better than maybe other weekends he's had, but is it a good weekend?" Villeneuve questioned.

“He's still very far off his team-mate. He's not bringing anything to the table either in pace, points for the team, or helping Max for the championship.

“And he has a lot of experience. We've seen the best of him, he's already on the way down, so it seems that they're overprotecting him for some reason.

“But no, you can't say that was a good weekend. It was maybe his least bad, but it wasn't a good weekend,” he concluded.

Isack Hadjar is likely Tsunoda’s closest competition for the Red Bull seat, with the Japanese star 17th in the standings on 28 points, while the Racing Bulls driver is in 10th with 39 points. A recovery is entirely possible for Tsunoda if he improves his performance in Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi before his future is decided.

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