Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda bounced back after a rough Austrian Grand Prix to make it through Q2 at Silverstone.
Tsunoda is starting the British Grand Prix in P12, only missing out on Q3 by less than a tenth. It was a strong showing from the Japanese driver, who isn’t consistently performing at every race.
In fact, the Red Bull driver had more pace left in the car and was hindered by an issue with the power unit.
“It was very clean. I lost the power, to be honest. Until I started the lap, launching into the last corner, the power I normally get – I didn’t have it,” Tsunoda told the media after qualifying.
“I lost about a tenth in Turn 3, just from that lap time until the main straight. And a couple of acceleration boosts were not working in the last boost.
“So, without considering that, the lap was pretty good. And how tight it was… I think most likely I was going through to Q3. So, really annoying.”
For most of the season, Tsunoda has either done a solid job of getting the car into Q3 and netting some points during the race or finished at the bottom of the grid and run a dismal race at the back.
In Austria, Tsunoda was eliminated in Q1 and started the race in 18th place. During the race, things did not get better for the Japanese driver.
He received a penalty during the race for a collision and ended up finishing P16 – the last driver to take the checkered flag.
Red Bull’s drivers, other than Max Verstappen, have encountered issues with the car over the past couple of seasons. The drivability of the RB21 is seemingly unbearable for everyone except Verstappen.
Tsunoda looked much more comfortable in the car at Silverstone, and he noted the improvement as a result.
“Yeah, I think this was the cleanest race weekend we’ve had so far, up to now. The confidence and everything… I felt good in qualifying,” he added.
“So just – yeah – every time, there’s something that gets in the way in the last push.
“The team gave massive support to help me gain that confidence back again. And it was working.”
After not scoring points in his last four races, Tsunoda is hoping to end the drought and show the team that he can be the one to tame the car.
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