After getting the unexpected call up to the top team between China and Japan, Tsunoda spent just two days preparing on the simulator leaving today’s free practice running as his first real chance to get a feel for the RB21.
Based on the simulator work, Tsunoda said on media day that he had expected “a lot more trickiness, because of how Liam struggled” but he also acknowledged that the simulator makes it easier to control a car “more comfortably”. As a result, he looked ahead to free practice as being a “complete unknown”.
But with these sessions now complete, albeit disrupted by four red flags in FP2 alone, Tsunoda has rated his first day as a “good start”.
“FP1 was better than expected, a good start for myself.”
“FP2, I didn’t set a lap time. I think there is still a lot of work to do. Maybe I slightly struggled or there is something we have to look at more in the data from FP2 but so far, overall, it’s ok. I just have to build up the confidence a bit more.”
And this lack of confidence is expected, not only at this stage of the weekend, but also given that he has had under two hours in the real thing on an already difficult, technical track that demands commitment from the drivers.
So what does the data say about how he compared to Verstappen over their fastest laps of FP1?
Looking at the speed, throttle and brake traces from these laps shows Tsunoda as being able to match Verstappen over much of the lap in a basic sense, but a closer look reveals the signs of this lack of confidence Yuki spoke to.
In the esses of turns 3 to 7 we can see a small lift for Tsunoda into turn 4, less speed being carried through the Degner curve (turn 8) and again to a lesser extent on the approach to the hairpin (turn 11). Further into the lap we can observe a lift off the throttle for Tsunoda in the middle of the first Spoon curve before he reapplies and comes back off again into the second Spoon curve, whereas Verstappen has a consistent drop in speed yet to a higher baseline than Tsunoda.
Interestingly Tsunoda appears to get a better exit out of this corner than Verstappen, carrying very slightly more speed than Verstappen all the way down until just before the flat out 130R, or turn 15.
What this telemetry points to is a) an incredible start for Tsunoda, but b) him being critical of his own performance in a way that will no doubt push him to progress as the weekend continues so long as it is used productively. His maturity over the radio was clear too, with him asking his engineer to focus on himself rather than be given reference points to George Russell, for example, and it was an impressive factor that was picked up on by Christian Horner also.
“His feedback is very clear, very concise in the car,” he said, and even Verstappen himself praised how Tsunoda got up to speed over the day, saying he thought Yuki “started off really well”.
This step up taken by Tsunoda thus far is exactly what Red Bull needed to justify their decision in moving Lawson aside, with the effect of the experience the team referenced in their statement after the decision being immediately apparent. It’s of course important for this pattern to continue, with Horner saying “it’s just the start of his journey”.
