The Japanese stand-in finished 14th at the Madrid Grand Prix after first-lap contact with Carlos Sainz heavily damaged his Racing Bulls challenger.
The driver was making his third substitute appearance replacing Liam Lawson. The New Zealander was drafted into the senior Red Bull squad to cover for the injured Isack Hadjar.
While Liam Lawson’s Madrid surge complicated the manufacturer’s wider driver market picture, the Racing Bulls substitute struggled for grip all weekend.
Sainz struck the left side of the VCARB 03 into the narrow first corner. The resulting floor damage ruined any chance of forward progress.
“Pretty much the race was finished by that,” the driver told Formula1.com. “I lost a lot of positions by that, but also I had a big damage from that.”
Despite finding clearer air when Sergio Perez pitted, overtaking proved impossible around the tight layout.
“And to be honest, considering that damage I had, the pace wasn’t that bad,” he added. “But yeah, it was super difficult to overtake here.”
Struggling For Pace Around Madrid
The weekend proved difficult long before Sunday. After qualifying down in 15th, the stand-in noted the machinery felt very odd.
The lack of performance mirrored the Oscar Piastri Madrid setback seen elsewhere on the grid.
Meanwhile, rookie team-mate Arvid Lindblad navigated the street circuit to claim a ninth-place finish. The points haul starkly contrasted with the damaged car’s eventual 14th-place classification.
The frustrating result delivers a major blow to his permanent seat hopes before the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
