Suzuka.- The Japanese Yuki Tsunodain the center of the spotlights since he took the flyer of the Neozyre Liam Lawson in Red Bull -Dested after two races- he has approved in his debut with the Austrian team of the Formula 1 This Friday in Suzuka, but he still has a lot to prove.
Leaving aside in December by the team – who chose Lawson – to become a partner of the quadruple world champion, the Dutch Max Verstappen, after the departure of Mexican Sergio Pérez, the Japanese begins to taste his rematch and does so in front of his audience.
This Friday, under a spring sun, Tsunoda did not succumb to the pressure of knowing the most observed.
With his sixth place in the first free session, just behind his illustrious companion, who only exceeded him for 107 thousandths, the Japanese proved to have the level to pilot the unpredictable cars Red Bull that he longed for.
“The car seemed quite interesting to me (…) It was a good session,” the Japanese said on the radio of the team after the first serious contact with the weekend’s track.
“I trust the car”
The second session, on the other hand, did not really allow Tsunoda to continue the adaptation to the car.
Interrupted four times, the pilots barely had 20 minutes on the asphalt and the Japanese could not complete a quick lap and ended 18.
“It could have been better, but at least I learned a lot from the car today (Friday). I have confidence in the car,” he said.
Already popular in his country, Tsunoda, the pilot with less height of the paddock with his 1.59 m, approaches the category of national hero since he joined the prestigious team of Formula 1a level never reached by a Japanese pilot.
Before his second free session with Red Bull on Friday, he needed almost a minute to tour few ten meters to reach the garage of his new team.
Dressed in the Red Bull monkey, Tsunoda had to cross a mass of fans that roared when he saw the 24 -year -old pilot.
Although his Friday’s debut was exciting, the most difficult is in front of Tsunoda. Only time will say if it is able to maintain comparison with Verstappen.
Scrutinized
Many pilots before he verified that it is not always easy to share team with the talented Dutch, such as ‘Czech’ Pérez himself or the Frenchman Pierre Gasly, who coincided with Tsunoda for two years in Alphatauri (2021-2022).
The Gallic pilot was fired by Red Bull in the middle of the 2019 season, and relegated to Toro Rosso, the little sister of the Austrian team.
“I called him as soon as I knew it to share my experience and give him advice,” Gasly told AFP this Thursday. Tsunoda corroborated his words and publicly thank his friend at a press conference.
“I sincerely believed that he would have the steering wheel at the end of the year because I always said it was very fast. Does it have a level to give in Red Bull? Yes. Will it work? I don’t know, because it depends on many factors,” he continued.
Tsunoda is notified: in Red Bull will be scrutinized and will not have the right to error. His contract concludes at the end of the year the team will not tremble his pulse to get rid of him if the results did not arrive.
