Today's Edition
BATOOL GHAITH (ABU DHABI)
Yuki Tsunoda will be without a seat for the 2026 season due to poor performance, but the Formula 1 driver for Red Bull Racing selfishly helped his teammate Max Verstappen get the best position possible in qualifying for a surprise title bid at the climax race, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
On Saturday, at the Yas Marina Circuit, Tsunoda’s tow and cooler temperatures from a 6pm start helped Verstappen clinch pole position for Sunday’s race with a scintillating lap time of 1 minute, 22.207s.
Verstappen needed to break McLaren’s attempt of locking out the front row with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri with the maximum speed he could get from his car with soft tyres. “Give him a really good tow here, a really good tow, wait for him, look in your mirrors,” came the call to Tsunoda on Red Bull’s radio.
Tsunoda, who managed only 33 points to Verstappen’s contribution of 396 so far in the constructors’ standing, executed the order flawlessly, leading Verstappen down the straight and giving him the slipstream advantage needed. “It was very stressful, I had to get it right the first time,” Tsunoda admitted afterward in the media pen.
Verstappen, now having eight pole positions, the most for a driver this season, also acknowledged the gesture with a few words of gratitude. “It was a good lap already,” said Verstappen, “with a little bit of help also from Yuki with a tow. So, that was very nice of him to give up one of his runs. And then the second lap, I was not sure if I was going to improve just because of the tow that I got. But then again, just found a little bit more lap time in the corners, and that gave me a little bit more lap time.”
Asked about his plan for race day, Tsunoda said he will do whatever he can to support Verstappen’s title bid. The 25-year-old, who will move into a Red Bull reserve role next season after four years on the F1 grid, will make way for Isack Hadjar, the Arab-descent driver moving up from the marque’s secondary outfit, Racing Bulls.
Norris, who won last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from pole, will start second, followed by teammate Piastri in third. With just 16 points separating the championship contenders, Norris (408), Verstappen (396) and Piastri (392), Sunday’s finale promises a fierce showdown under the lights in Abu Dhabi.
