The Japanese race weekend did not turn out to be the dream debut at Red Bull for Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver would have liked to have scored points during his first full weekend in service of the Austrian racing team, but did not finish higher than twelfth place. According to Tsunoda, he couldn’t do much more during the race after his disappointing qualifying session on Saturday.
Yuki Tsunoda was in the RB21 for the first time this race weekend after the much-discussed driver swap with Liam Lawson. The Japanese driver finished his first race for the Austrian racing team, and moreover his home race, in twelfth place, while teammate Max Verstappen took his fourth consecutive victory at Suzuka. A disappointed Tsunoda faced the cameras of F1TV after the race.
No Points
“Of course, it was not the result I wanted,” Tsunoda reflects. “I wanted to finish in the points.” The Japanese driver qualified fifteenth on Saturday, but thanks to Carlos Sainz’s grid penalty, he was able to start the race in fourteenth place. Tsunoda was able to overtake his predecessor at Red Bull, Liam Lawson, early in the race. However, the number of positions the Japanese driver made up was not enough for a top ten finish.
“I just have to do better in the qualifiers, the pace was there,” sighs the newly minted Red Bull driver. “I was stuck in traffic (during the race). That was frustrating, but I learned a lot from those 53 laps. I’m looking forward to the next race, but it was my home race. So it’s a shame.” The Japanese driver still congratulates his teammate Max Verstappen on the victory, and is happy that a Honda engine won the Japanese Grand Prix.”
