The Formula 1 race in Canada had a lot of twists and turns, including for Racing Bulls drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda. The positive result of the weekend: Ricciardo collected 4 points. An important result for the RB team, which is currently in sixth place in the constructors’ championship.
However, the joy is marred by two things: Firstly, the good starting position – in qualifying on Saturday Ricciardo secured P5 and Tsunoda P8 – meant that more points were expected. Secondly, Tsunoda was also in the points for long stretches until he lost his car in the final phase of the race and fell back. The full report on the race can be found here.
Fatal final phase: Ricciardo attacks, Tsunoda slips
Tsunoda took responsibility for the slip shortly before the end of the race: “That was my mistake. I was struggling quite a bit with the brakes. My wheels locked up and yes…” he explained. “Today is disappointing and not how I should have finished the race. It was just about bringing it home.” The frustration was written all over the face of the Japanese, who was confirmed for the 2025 season with Racing Bull in Canada.
Yuki Tsunoda’s ride was by no means the only incident at the turbulent Canadian GP. There were five retirements in total. One of them was Sergio Perez, who badly damaged his rear wing when he hit the wall. You can read why he was given a harsh penalty here:
What exactly happened? On lap 66, Tsunoda missed turn 8 and ended up on the grass next to the track. When he tried to brake, the wheels locked and in turn 9 he spun his RB car back onto the track, knocking off the sign at the side of the track. Ricciardo, Gasly, Hülkenberg, Bottas and Magnussen passed him. Tsunoda was in P9 before this incident and fell back to P14.
But was it possible that his own teammate drove him into this slip-up? Three laps earlier, Ricciardo received permission from his race engineer over the radio: “You can fight against Yuki.” After the second restart – the safety car was deployed following a collision between Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon called out on lap 54 – Ricciardo stayed valiantly in Esteban Ocon’s DRS window from lap 59. When the Alpine driver passed Tsunoda on lap 61, Ricciardo (at that time in P10) had his own teammate (at that time in P9) right in front of him.
Neither driver commented on whether Ricciardo put too much pressure on Tsunoda and thereby forced him into making a mistake. Ricciardo then continued to put pressure on Ocon and snatched eighth place from the Frenchman with three laps to go. This meant that the Racing Bulls finished in P8 and P14.
Racing Bulls on track with smart pit stop strategy
The reason why Ricciardo, who started the race from P5, was in the position behind his teammate from about halfway through the race was a 5-second penalty that the Australian was given for a false start. “I was a bit confused about the penalty for the jump start because I was sure that I had not started too early. But then I remembered that during the start I had the feeling that the car might have moved. We had a small problem with the car that we will have to look at. But of course it was a step backwards for our race,” Ricciardo shared his view on the penalty.
Guillaume Dezoteux, Head of Vehicle Performance, explained: “Daniel received a penalty at the start for moving slightly on the grid before the lights went out. He followed the procedure correctly so it looks like it was the car, probably a slight clutch drag pushed the car forward a few centimeters.”
During the first safety car phase – triggered by an impact by Logan Sargeant – Ricciardo, like almost all the other drivers, came into the pits, where he had to serve the five second penalty before changing to new intermediate tires. For the first restart, he dropped from P7 (before the safety car) to P10. “When we then came into the pits to change to new inters, we lost a few positions to the cars that stayed out and then we couldn’t get much more out of it with the new inters. So the race kind of got away from us,” Ricciardo described that phase of the race.
The other side of the garage, however, benefited in this phase. Tsunoda stayed outside and was pushed up from P10 (before the safety car) to P7 by the stops of other drivers. He was able to extend the first stint on intermediates until lap 45, when the track had already dried out enough for the dry tires to be used. The Japanese driver thus saved himself a Pit stop. He praised his team for this strategic decision, which could have set the course for a successful result: “They definitely made the right decision regarding the strategy and did a good job. It wasn’t easy on the old Inters, but I felt good.”
The team reacted to the changing track conditions at the right time on lap 44 for Ricciardo and lap 45 for Tsunoda and switched from intermediate to medium tyres, allowing them to finish consistently.
Ricciardo defies criticism: Strong comeback in Canada
For Ricciardo, who had dropped out of the points at one point, the improvement in form later in the race on a dry track proved particularly significant. “When the track dried out towards the end and we were on medium tyres, I was able to overtake a few cars and fight my way back into the top 10. In the end, it was a small relief to get back into the points,” he said happily.
The Australian has only scored points once in the 2024 Formula 1 season, with a fourth place in the sprint in Miami, and was regularly outpaced by his young teammate. That’s why the Honey Badger has been the subject of harsh criticism recently, and many assume that this year will be his last in Formula 1. Ricciardo therefore urgently needs an upward trend and could have laid the foundation for this in Montreal.
After the Canadian GP, he was able to counter his critics with a solid performance, at least for now: “It was a pretty good weekend from start to finish, considering the difficult conditions. With such a crazy race, I’m happy to have a few points in my pocket at the end. I’m glad that it was a pretty smooth weekend for us and that we were able to increase the gap to the field behind us.”
The Canada weekend was also marked by discussions about the new Formula 1 regulations for 2026, which were published on Thursday. What are the special features of the 2026 cars? Christian explains in this video: