Yuki Tsunoda left with ‘mixed feelings’ after Red Bull debut at Japanese Grand Prix

Yuki Tsunoda’s debut as a Red Bull driver got off to a tremendous start, as he finished right behind new teammate Max Verstappen in Friday’s first practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix. As Tsunoda stated during Thursday’s FIA Press Conference, his marching orders from Red Bull were to stay as close to Verstappen as possible, and finishing just 0.107 seconds behind him in FP1 was precisely what the team was looking for.

The Japanese Grand Prix itself, however, was a different story.

A slip in Q2 saw Tsunoda miss out on Q3 and start the race in P12, just behind Liam Lawson.

Which is where he finished, 58 seconds behind Verstappen.

“It’s tough today because I wanted to at least finish in the points,” said Tsunoda after the race. “I am happy with the race in terms of what I have learnt but not in terms of result, so it’s mixed feelings. I was feeling a lot of support from the crowd, every lap it felt more and I wanted to give something more back to them.

As Tsunoda described his day in the team’s post-race report, he emphasized what he learned during his first race in the RB21. Those learnings will give the driver confidence going forward.

“At least I know I did the maximum I could in the race and these 53 laps gave me so much to learn about the car. I now know what kind of things I need to work on. I was stuck behind cars all day in traffic so it’s hard to know the full race pace of this car but, every lap of the 53, I was building up my confidence in the car,” said Tsunoda. “That confidence level is now completely different from the beginning of the weekend to now, I feel positive about that, but I am still disappointed because it is a home Grand Prix and it’s only once a year.

“I need to reset before Bahrain and I am sure compared to what I was feeling, in terms of car and in terms of confidence it will naturally be better there. I will understand more about the car, and I am excited for the next one, I just need to do better in qualifying.

Tsunoda also paid tribute to both Verstappen for his nearly-perfect Japanese Grand Prix, and Honda, as the relationship between Red Bull and the manufacturer comes to a close at the end of the season.

“A big congrats to Max, it is good to see one of the Honda engines win at our home Grand Prix, in their final year of collaborating with Red Bull. And finally, a special thanks to the Japanese fans, I feel like there were more than ever at the track and I feel very honored to represent them,” added Tsunoda. “I am very happy to be able to drive in front of them as an Oracle Red Bull Racing driver, with a Honda engine.”

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner described Tsunoda’s performance as “solid,” and noted that the driver should be able to settle in to his new team over the next few races.

“It was a solid performance for Yuki,” said Horner. “The nature of the race meant overtaking was hard to come by throughout, but he made some ground and will only improve as he continues to settle into the Team the next few races.”