- Yuki Tsunoda replaced Liam Lawson to Red Bull two races in the season
- He impressed during his first outing for his new team at the Japan Grand Prix
- Tsunoda was the sixth faster in FP1, 0.107 seconds slower than Verstappen Max
All eyes were on Yuki Tsunoda while he was participating in his first training session for Red Bull since his replacement for Liam Lawson and Christian Horner made his verdict on his perfromance.
Tsunoda came to Lawson as the second Red Bull driver, only two races in the season, the New Zealander falling into the former Japanese seat in Racing Bulls.
Lawson was brutally abandoned while Max Verstappen of Max Verstappen in Red Bull after a difficult start to the season which leaves him 16th in the pilot championship without point.
Tsunoda took a solid life with her new team, ending the sixth more quickly in the first session and a little more than a tenth of the Porcestapn rhythm while Lawson was 13th – five places and 0.3 s his teammate Isack Hadjar.
The Japanese driver did not have the opportunity to show a lot during a second session that was struck four times, unable to finish a representative lap on soft tires.
And the director of the Red Bull Horner team was satisfied with what he saw of his new man.
Yuki Tsunoda participated in his first training session for Red Bull in Suzuka Friday
Christian Horner made his verdict on the beginnings of the new Red Bull driver for the team
“I think it was a positive start to Yuki,” said Horner after the first session. “He knows the circuit very well here, and his comments are very clear, very concise in the car. It’s just the start of his trip with the team and a lot to enter.
“He is now in his fifth season in Formula 1, so he has a lot of experience now behind him.
“He certainly made, in a high pressure situation, a positive start and he just needs to rely on this now during the rest of the weekend.”
“With hindsight, I think we asked for too early, too early from Liam. We have a lot of work to do with the car and unfortunately, sometimes I think you have to be cruel to be nice.
“But he is not out of Formula 1 – he returned to racing bulls – we always believe in him as a talent for the future and the use of Yuki’s experience will allow engineers to progress faster. It brings experience and I think knowledge is very useful.
“This season will be all about a development race and that is why we made the decision early. I think Liam would have happened there, but it would have taken five, six, seven races or half a season – we don’t have this time.
“So, after discussing it internally, we decided,” it’s true, we have to scam the plaster now and continue “. This is what we chose to do and Yuki jumped and did a good job at the start.
The leader of the Lando Norris championship seems again ready for a battle with the teammate Oscar Piastri while the pair McLaren gave the pace during training for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Tsunoda was the sixth faster in FP1, only 0.107 seconds slower than the teammate Max Verstappen
McLaren won the first two races of the season – Norris winning in Australia and Piastri in China – and are the favorites before this weekend in Suzuka.
Piastri ended the day at the top, just 0.049 seconds from Norris who was over four tenths away from third place Isack Hadjar.
