The Japanese driver, who replaces Lawson at the Faenza team, admitted that everything feels new to him. Tsunoda was eliminated in SQ2, just 0.009s behind his teammate. His goal is Saturday's qualifying.
Yuki Tsunoda has admitted that "everything feels like being a rookie" after completing his first day of activity back at Racing Bulls. The Japanese driver was eliminated in the second phase of sprint qualifying at Zandvoort but was satisfied with his performance: "Considering it's my first time in this car... actually, everything feels like being a rookie, the braking pressure, everything, it's very different from previous years" declared Tsunoda.
The Japanese driver received a last minute call on Tuesday to race in the Dutch Grand Prix after Isack Hadjar suffered a wrist injury, which led to Liam Lawson being promoted to Red Bull and Yuki Tsunoda taking his seat at Racing Bulls. Tsunoda, who was a full time driver for the team between 2021 and 2025, has acted this season as a test and reserve driver.
Tsunoda had never driven the new 2026 cars and his preparation was limited. Despite this, he managed to stay out of trouble in a wet FP1 to finish seventeenth, before improving to twelfth position in sprint qualifying, just 0.009s off Liam Lawson's time: "Yes, first, especially in wet conditions, it was quite surprising how much pace I had. I guess in wet conditions it was the first time for everyone, so it was a bit more equal" he explained.
The Japanese driver highlighted the differences between the 2026 cars and those of previous seasons. "You have two sets of tires, and you don't want to damage them right away. It was quite complicated. In the end, I'm quite satisfied with the performance I had in sprint qualifying. Obviously, there are a couple of things I can improve" he stated.
Tsunoda was outperformed by his teammate Arvid Lindblad, who will start from tenth position on the grid for the sprint. However, the Japanese driver's main goal is qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix: "My main goal is tomorrow in qualifying. So far I think I can build session by session quite well. I'm excited for a long run tomorrow, that's what I need for all the data before qualifying and the race" he declared.
The Japanese driver acknowledged that he is in a constant learning process: "It was a very early stage, so it's a bit different and maybe it's not fair to say, but most drivers were struggling a bit with the balance and brake performance, the amount of downforce this car lost compared to last year, I need to adapt quickly. I drove last year's car, which is probably one of the fastest cars in history. I enjoy the TPCs a lot. Moving to this car feels very different, especially in high speed corners" he added.
Tsunoda enjoys the challenge of adapting to a new car: "This type of traditional circuit, there isn't much room in the runoff areas, so you want to build gradually. I enjoy this process and I'm grateful for the opportunity I'm having" he concluded.
The Japanese driver hopes that Saturday's qualifying will be his chance to prove his worth, to reappear on the radar of F1 teams, and above all, to help Racing Bulls maintain their points streak.
