F1 Japanese Grand Prix: Yuki Tsunoda off to a strong start with Red Bull

Ahead of his Red Bull debut at his home race, Yuki Tsunoda opened up on his targets with his new team. “Basically, be as close to Max [Verstappen] as possible, which anyway gives good results for the team, also it allows the team to support other strategies in the race,” said Tsunoda during Thursday’s FIA Press Conference.

So far, so good.

Verstappen posted the fifth-fastest time during Friday’s first practice session, with a lap of 1:29.065. Tsunoda was just behind him in sixth, a little over a tenth off Verstappen’s time with a lap of 1:29.623.

The picture was different during FP2, as Verstappen placed eighth while Tsunoda was down in P18, but the newest Red Bull driver did not get a chance to post a qualifying simulation due to several red flags that interrupted the session.

Speaking to the official F1 channel after FP1, Tsunoda reflected on his Red Bull debut.

“FP1 was better than expected,” said Tsunoda. “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.”

Looking at “track dominance” telemetry data from each driver’s fastest lap in FP1, you can see how Tsunoda fared against Verstappen. The Japanese driver was very strong in the second sector, including at the entrance and exit to the hairpin at Turn 11, and coming out of Turn 14 into the back straight that leads into Sector 3, and the legendary left-handed turn 130R:

As you can see in this comparison of their respective speeds, Verstappen was much more confident during the tricky first sector, as the reigning Drivers’ champion kept his speed up coming out of the DRS range into Turn 1, as well as through the “Esses:”

Still, Tsunoda was tasked with staying as close as possible to his new teammate.

So far, so good.