Yuki Tsunoda explains why he couldn’t hold off Lando Norris for long in Abu Dhabi

Yuki Tsunoda has admitted Lando Norris’ pace in the first sector of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix caught him off-guard when trying to defend from the new F1 world champion.

Starting on the hard tyre, Red Bull expected Tsunoda to play a key role in helping Max Verstappen keep his 2025 F1 title hopes alive.

Heading into the weekend, Verstappen needed to outscore Norris by 12 points or more.

A victory for Verstappen, with Norris finishing off the podium, would have been enough for him to take his fifth title.

An early pit stop put Norris in traffic, eventually leaving him behind Tsunoda.

Tsunoda made clear on team radio that he knew what was expected of him with Norris closing in.

“I know what to do, leave it to me,” Tsunoda told Red Bull before Norris approached.

Surprisingly, Tsunoda decided not to back off in the final sector to hold Norris up and allow Charles Leclerc to close in.

Tsunoda attempted to aggressively defend into the first DRS zone.

Norris got through immediately, losing little time to Leclerc behind.

Reflecting on his battle with Norris, Tsunoda told reporters in Abu Dhabi: “It was just keep feeding back consistently on the radio, I can tell from stress from them.

“I’m like, ‘Look, I know what to do, we talked about it, I’ll try my best to defend as much as I can’. So to me, there’s not any benefits that I let him go easily, so that’s it, I know what I need, I’ll try my best, but he just came back quick.

“Well, I thought about it, but he was also quite far away, I think he managed to pass me in Turn 9,” he added.

“Because the gap was still like eight tenths, nine tenths, and he was closing out I guess five tenths per lap, so I thought I could hold on one more lap, but also he did well that he maximised the performance in Turns 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and closed the gap in one, so he did well, but I don’t think there’s much difference, even though I stayed behind massively.”

Tsunoda was handed a five-second time penalty for his over-aggressive defence, while Norris escaped punishment for overtaking off the track.

“I have to review back what happened there,” Tsunoda said of the penalty. “But at the same time, I have to really review back if it actually deserves a five-second penalty or not, because it cost my race massively.”

Tsunoda bemoans lack of “luck”

Ahead of the title decider, Red Bull announced that Tsunoda would be replaced by Isack Hadjar for 2026.

It leaves Tsunoda off the grid as Red Bull’s test and reserve driver.

Tsunoda conceded that while his pace improved during his time at Red Bull, he simply had no luck.

“Yeah, I don’t feel like a problem, I just feel slower currently, I don’t know why, it feels like last year,” Tsunoda concluded. “Looking back, to be honest, I don’t like to use the word luck to be honest, much, but in the second half of the season especially, let’s say, my luck was nothing.

“There was a lot of things going on without my control, and I think multiple times I showed my pace, which is good. But even last year, last race, my second penalty was a bit tough, but at least I gave it all, and that’s it.”