F1 returnee Yuki Tsunoda: “I didn’t pay any attention to the other drivers”

For Yuki Tsunoda, the challenge at Zandvoort is particularly great. This is because the young Japanese driver has not been behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car in recent months. However, Red Bull Racing star Isack Hadjar’s wrist injury has enabled him to return to the Formula 1 starting grid. Although Tsunoda is not replacing Hadjar, last year’s team-mate of Max Verstappen will be taking part.

This is because Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson is standing in for Hadjar, and Tsunoda has now taken over Lawson’s seat. In the first free practice session, he was still well off the pace, 2.161 seconds behind Kimi Antonelli’s fastest time, which left him in 17th place. In the subsequent Sprint qualifying session, however, he improved and was the twelfth fastest. He finished the mini-race in thirteenth place.

In the GP qualifying session, he repeated his feat from the sprint qualifying. Finishing twelfth, he missed out on a place in Q3 by just one tenth of a second. Nevertheless, he was beaming as he stepped in front of the TV cameras once the session was over. “I’m very happy,” he explained, “because this is the first time I’ve driven this car this weekend, and I haven’t been in a GP racer for eight months at all.”

“To be honest, the most important thing was that I enjoyed myself and the adrenaline was pumping. I didn’t worry about the other drivers or my position on the timesheet, but focused entirely on finding more time. I really enjoyed it all and can’t wait to compete in the race.” Looking ahead to the Grand Prix, the 26-year-old added: “My pace in the Sprint wasn’t too bad at all and I’m really excited to see how it goes. My grid position is close to the points-scoring places. Obviously, we’re in for a long race, but I’ll give it my all to move up the field.”

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