Yuki Tsunoda delivers Saturday in Singapore while Daniel Ricciardo faces an uncertain future

It has been a tough few weeks for Yuki Tsunoda.

But thanks to a strong performance Saturday at the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix, he is in a position to erase those bitter memories and deliver a points finish for Visa Cash App RB F1 Team.

Tsunoda retired from each of the past two races, first at the Italian Grand Prix after contact with Nico Hülkenberg, and then early in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix following an opening-lap incident with Lance Stroll. But Saturday night on the streets at Marina Bay, Tsunoda rocketed into Q3 and is set to start eighth in the Singapore Grand Prix.

While he expressed some frustration that his run in Q3 was not “perfect,” after the results over the last two race weekends, Tsunoda will certainly take a top-ten start.

“It’s been a while since we were in Q3, and today finally we made it! We were waiting for this moment, so well done and thanks to the Team,” said Tsunoda in the team’s post-qualifying report. “Obviously, as a driver, you’re always aiming for a perfect qualifying, and unfortunately, the last run was a bit messy. We were tight on time during the warm-up lap, so we had to rush, which compromised our last push lap a bit.

Initially, I was a bit frustrated when I crossed the finish line, but considering our performance in the last few races, this is a big achievement for us,” continued Tsunoda. “It won’t be easy tomorrow, we’ll try to catch the Haas in front of us but at the same time, we’ll have to look at some fast cars behind us. We’ll do as much as we can to try and score points.”

The mood is much different on the other side of the garage.

Daniel Ricciardo, under increasing pressure to keep his spot in Formula 1 and facing rumors of being replaced ahead of the United States Grand Prix in October, was eliminated in Q1. His hope of putting the RB01 “on the podium,” which he mentioned during media day Thursday, seems a long way off.

“Today wasn’t good,” started Ricciardo. “We really struggled on the softs, every set we used today, we weren’t competitive. Our pace was good yesterday, which is why we didn’t change much on the car overnight.

“In FP3, we performed well on the medium. However, it was a lot harder for us to get the most out of the soft tire, and we didn’t find a solution in qualifying,” continued Ricciardo. “There was only a tenth between us and Q2, but we expected more based on yesterday’s practice.”

It is all to play for Sunday night in Singapore for VCARB. Tsunoda is in a position to bring home some points, while Ricciardo has his back against the proverbial wall, driving for his F1 future while starting at the back of the field.