Rosberg baffled by Tsunoda’s Monza deficit as Red Bull’s second-seat riddle rolls on
Max Verstappen did Max Verstappen things at Monza. On a day when Red Bull hasn’t exactly had the run of 2025, the Dutchman waited until the last breath of Q3 to yank pole away from Lando Norris with a lap that felt inevitable and still somehow absurd.
On the other side of the garage, familiar frustration. Yuki Tsunoda clocked the 10th-best time and will start ninth thanks to a Lewis Hamilton penalty — one of his better Saturdays this year — yet he was more than seven tenths adrift of his teammate in the final segment. Nico Rosberg, never shy with a verdict, called the gap “inexplicable.”
“This has been years now,” Rosberg said on Sky’s post-qualifying show. “Once again, Yuki is more than seven tenths behind Max. That’s inexplicable. Yuki’s a great driver — he knows how to drive a racing car. How is it possible he’s so far behind once again? It’s crazy they can’t find a solution.”
Rosberg even entertained the age-old caveat that the two cars aren’t necessarily identical in feel and spec from session to session — then batted it away as a catch-all excuse. “Maybe it’s a tenth or something,” he added. “Not seven.”
Tsunoda’s explanation was more Monza-specific. The tow at this place is free lap time, and he didn’t get one when it mattered.
“In Q3, I wasn’t able to have slipstream,” he told media after qualifying. “Traditionally at this kind of track you want to have a bit of circulation and slipstream. I had to lead the pack in Q3, which is kind of opposite to what I want. But overall, I’m happy with the performance. Being in Q3 was the thing I wanted for a long time and overall I’m happy with it.”
That satisfaction makes sense in his own Monza context. This race has been a jinx for him — two non-starts, one retirement, and a single finish outside the points in four prior attempts. Ninth on the grid gives him a cleaner look at a race that has a habit of spitting out opportunities if you’re sharp on the out-lap and brave on the brakes into Turn 1.
Still, the bigger story is the one that refuses to go away. Red Bull’s second seat — now Tsunoda’s job — continues to be the hardest gig in the pit lane. Different names, same tale: a driver fast enough to justify the call-up spends Saturday afternoons staring at Verstappen’s lap trace and wondering where the final two or three corners went. It’s not a conspiracy so much as a high-wire act. The RB21’s sweet spot is narrow, Verstappen can balance on that wire in a crosswind, and the stopwatch doesn’t care who’s in the other car.
Is seven tenths entirely down to a missing tow? Not usually. At Monza a slipstream can easily be worth a couple of tenths depending on positioning; more if you nail it. But the number Rosberg fixated on speaks to something deeper: setup confidence, brake bite, how early you dare to commit when the car is skittish over the kerbs at Ascari. Verstappen lives there. Tsunoda, new to this side of the Red Bull garage in 2025, is chasing it under brighter lights.
The irony is that Verstappen’s pole came in a season where — by his standards — not every Saturday has been a coronation. Yet when the track rubbers in and everyone has one shot, his lap is often the last and the best. That’s the bar Tsunoda is measured against, constantly and publicly.
It’s also the part Rosberg’s right about: in any other team, qualifying P10 at Monza and inheriting P9 would be a tidy day; in this one, it’s a debate. The second car has to be close enough to force strategic choices on Sundays, to occupy the rival pit windows, to make life awkward for McLaren and Ferrari. If it isn’t, Red Bull fights with one hand.
There’s time yet for Tsunoda to reshape the narrative. Starts at Monza are dicey, DRS trains are long, and a Red Bull — any Red Bull — tends to be kinder on its tyres over a stint. If he lands in clear air early, the race can drift back to him. And if he doesn’t? The questions won’t go away. They never do around this team. Only Verstappen seems immune.
For now, add another chapter to the sport’s strangest recurring subplot. The Red Bull second-seat problem may not be solvable with a click of front wing or the right tow at the right time. It might just be Max.
