Red Bull: Yuki Tsunoda explains Q2 exit in Suzuka qualifying and his prospects for F1 Japan GP. Yuki Tsunoda reflects on a tough qualifying at his home Grand Prix in Japan.

Qualifying for the Japanese GP wasn’t easy for Yuki Tsunoda. The weekend started off promising, but the RB21 gave him some trouble during Q2.

This is Yuki Tsunoda’s first weekend in a Red Bull, and he showed in free practice that he could adapt well to the car. However, while his teammate secured pole position, he has to settle for starting 15th.

The warm-up phase of his tyres didn’t go as he had hoped—or rather, he thought it would be good enough to allow him a solid lap at the end of the second qualifying session. That wasn’t the case, and he found himself out of the car earlier than expected.

He remains confident nonetheless, especially if the race ends up being run in the wet, and admitted that he now feels comfortable in the car. He’s still learning the details, but his confidence is intact, and he hopes to recover and finish in the points.

Yuki Tsunoda’s statements
Yuki Tsunoda showed great pace in free practice. But on his final lap in Q2, he struggled and didn’t manage to reach Q3, meaning he will start the Japanese GP from 15th.

The Japanese driver explained what went wrong during qualifying: “Yes. I think the tyre warm-up didn’t go as I wanted. Yes, I think I’m still learning things about the car.” – he pointed out – “I thought the tyre warm-up was good—in the end I knew it would compromise the lap a little. But the penalty was much bigger than I expected,” he added. “I tried, but I couldn’t extract the maximum from the car. I think everything was fine up until Q1—in fact, I felt things progressively worsen during Q2. So, yes, it’s really a shame.”

During FP1 on Friday, car no. 22 showed very good pace, and that gave him confidence going into the rest of the weekend.

Yuki Tsunoda said: “I mean, at least I have confidence in the car, now I feel good. I just wasn’t able to put it all together today. So, yes, I’m very sad.”