Tsunoda feels he "showed some of the best long run pace I have in my time" with Red Bull in Mexico
Although he failed to score points, Yuki Tsunoda feels he "showed some of the best long run pace I have in my time" with Red Bull at last Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix.
Following a tough time in qualifying, Max Verstappen was eager to get the maximum out of the 71-lap encounter in Mexico to keep his championship aspirations alive.
The Dutchman endured an eventful time in the opening stages of the Mexico City Grand Prix. He approached Turn 1 with Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc alongside him.
The Dutchman got onto the dirty kerbs and had to cut across the grass. He ceded a place after returning to the track, dropping to fourth behind Hamilton.
Verstappen attacked Hamilton a few laps later, forcing the Briton wide. The two champions banged wheels, and Verstappen dropped to fifth place behind Bearman. He stayed out long on his mediums, made a late change to Pirelli’s red-walled softs on which he displayed a very strong performance.
The reigning champion found himself third after many of his rivals made a second stop, and he even managed to close in on second-placed Leclerc, but he an out of time to make a move thanks to a final lap VSC.
As for his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, he started on the mediums just like Verstappen. Although he was running in the points, he could not make the same strategy as his team mate work out there.
On the soft tyres late on he picked off Hadjar, but that was when his momentum stalled and he came home just outside the points.
Commenting on his race, Tsunoda said: "Unfortunately, today ended in frustration for me. There was a real opportunity to score good points for the Team but we were unfortunate with the long pit stop which disrupted a promising strategy for us, but that's racing and it happens.
"It's frustrating to have missed out on the points as we still have positions to play for in the Constructors', but I'll take the positives away. I was able to maximise my start again and make up a couple of positions before settling into the Medium run.
The Japanese driver continued: "In the first stint I wasn't too far off from Max, I was lapping consistently close to him and felt that I showed some of the best long run pace I have in my time with the Team. This afternoon just didn't go my way, but I'll keep pushing as I have done throughout the year."
