Yuki Tsunoda reflects on his first Q3 appearance of the 2024 F1 season

Yuki Tsunoda was elated with his first Q3 appearance in the qualifying session ahead of the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP. Speaking to the media, the Japanese driver felt that the ninth place on the grid was a great result for their team in its first year of rebranding to Visa Cashapp RB.

Tsunoda out-qualified his teammate Daniel Ricciardo by almost half a second in the second session of qualifying. In the final qualifying shoot-out for the top ten spots on the grid, the RB driver outpaced Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll to qualify ninth on the grid. Elated with his result, he was grateful to his team for giving him a good car.

Asked by Sportskeeda if he was happy with his result, Yuki Tsunoda replied:

“Yeah, definitely happy with the results. The team did a fantastic job. They gave me such a good car. Yeah, first Q3 in the year, definitely happy.”

On what the first Q3 appearance meant for his team, he added:

“Definitely, especially a completely new team. Basically, it's just the first Q3 for our team. So, definitely I can see they already did a great job. happy faces after going through Q3 in the people and everyone mechanics you know those kind of mood and you know motivation for sure you know gave us extra confidence for the future as well so I'm pretty happy with my job as well.”

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Yuki Tsunoda reckons that RB will have to maximize the potential of their car in the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP

Yuki Tsunoda feels that RB will have to get their strategy and race spot on to maximize their result in the race in Saudi Arabia. The Japanese driver felt that the car was similar to how it did in Bahrain, but they would have to see if there was any added performance gains in Jeddah.

However, the Japanese believes it will be imperative to keep the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and the Ferrari of Ollie Bearman at bay in the race. According to the RB driver, the limited opportunities to overtake at the Corniche could play to their advantage in retaining their position in the top 10.

Asked by Sportskeeda if he had unlocked any extra potential from the car as compared to how it felt in Bahrain, Yuki Tsunoda replied:

“We’ll see. I mean, the car is pretty much similar. So it won't be easy, there is still Aston and Ferrari behind. So we have to absolutely right for the strategy and everything and also myself. But yeah, I'm sure we can. You know we just have to maximise the package.”

Asked about his race pace and the confidence for a points finish, the 23-year-old added:

“It wouldn't be easy for sure and compared to those Astons and Ferrari for example, and I'm expecting cars also will be pretty fast as well. I don't think it will happen here especially and you just have to maximise the package. Also it won't be easy to overtake here so hopefully I can use that kind of advantage as well.”

The RB team are yet to collect their first points of the season but Tsunoda could be set for a points finish if all goes well. As far as their race pace is concerned, their long runs did look strong. However, for the young Honda protege, it will be his rivals and Daniel Ricciardo who he will have to keep at bay during the race. In Bahrain, he almost missed out on a points finish due to his teammate being on a better strategy.