Tsunoda praises Red Bull for turning things around after tough sprint race

Having finished well outside the points-paying positions, Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda praised the Milton Keynes-based outfit for “turning things around” for the standard qualifying session.

The sprint race saw Yuki Tsunoda struggle for pace, and the Japanese driver spent the entire distance in close company of Mercedes driver George Russell. Tsunoda ultimately came home down the order, unable to make much of an impact in the tight midfield.

However, after a raft of changes to the setup of his car, the Japanese racer did much better come Qualifying, making Q3 for the first time since Miami and going on to grab his best Qualifying performance since he joined Red Bull.

“The Sprint wasn't the start to the day that we were wanting and my pace really didn't stack up against my management of the car but the Team really turned things around very quickly ahead of Qualifying.

“P7 for my 100th start tomorrow is so exciting, it feels like yesterday that I had my first ever race in Bahrain and it really has been an interesting journey these past five years. The F1 environment can be hard but all you can do is keep pushing which is what we did today.

“It is a great feeling being back to the place where I should be, but I would like to say a huge thank you to my mechanics who managed to make the upgrade to the floor ahead of Qualifying. “The upgrade allowed me to really push and drive much closer to the limit than has been possible previously, the car is sliding less and is a lot more forgiving, really it’s a huge credit to the Team.

Speaking of his expectations for the race, Tsunoda has revealed that Red Bull have gone for a “hybrid” setup in terms of aerodynamic loads to make sure the RB21 works well both in dry and wet conditions.

“I really enjoyed the drive today and am feeling more confident going into race day tomorrow, we know that it is likely to rain but our hybrid set up means that we are prepared for the wet or the dry but obviously I would prefer the dry.

“My main focus now is on scoring points tomorrow and extracting as much performance as possible from the car. Seeing Laurent at the end of Qualifying gave me flashbacks from when we worked together at Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, he smiled directly at me as soon as I pulled in today and it really boosted my confidence."