Yuki Tsunoda has received praise from Racing Bulls for his performance during the Dutch Grand Prix, where he replaced Liam Lawson after the latter got injured. The Japanese driver has shown remarkable adaptation to the new Formula 1 cars of 2026, despite having no prior experience with this generation of machines.
At the Zandvoort circuit, Tsunoda has closed the gap to his rookie teammate, Arvid Lindblad. In the qualifying sessions, Tsunoda has steadily reduced his difference with Lindblad, going from 0.825 seconds in the first free session to just 0.102 seconds in Q2.
After his performance in qualifying, Tsunoda expressed satisfaction, commenting: ‘I am very happy. I really enjoyed these qualifying sessions a lot and learned to trust the car more after a few days of getting used to it.’ He also mentioned that he was looking forward to feeling the excitement of chasing the last thousandths of a second to improve his performance.
Tsunoda, who finished in 12th position on the grid, acknowledged that the new car presents significant challenges, especially regarding energy management. ‘The feel of the brake is completely different. When I tried the simulator, my first reaction was to hit the wall because the limitations were different,’ he explained.
Despite not making it into Q3, the team is satisfied with the progress Tsunoda showed over the weekend. ‘They had expectations for both cars to be in Q3, but it seems they are happy with my strides in each session,’ he concluded.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
