RB drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo believe they can score points after qualifying tenth and 11th in Suzuka.
Tsunoda secured his third consecutive Q3 appearance to line up tenth at Suzuka. He got there by eliminating his team mate with his final lap in Q2.Running in front of his home fans, Tsunoda admitted that he was eager to deliver a strong result and that it was more difficult to reach the top 10 than it had been in recent rounds.
“I felt a bit of pressure this time, I’m not going to lie, but was still able to go through into Q3,” Tsunoda told the official F1 channel.
“It wasn’t easy – the qualifying itself wasn’t as easy as I expected. I struggled with the balance, I would say. But overall, as a team, we did a fantastic job. Daniel is right behind me, so I think we can play around with the strategy, whatever, and try to score points.”
Tsunoda says he will do “whatever I can,” to ensure he takes points for the second consecutive round and for the first time at his home grand prix, but does not
“I think we have a good chance to score points, because I think one Aston Martin [Lance Stroll] – I don’t know what’s happened to him – but he’s behind.
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“We’ll try to score as much as possible. Even one point will still count. It seems this time, compared to the Mercedes or whatever, they’re a bit far away. But we’ll try to do as much as we can to score points – both cars would be perfect.”
After being stopped from progressing into Q3 by Tsunoda, Ricciardo admitted to having “mixed emotions” about his Saturday result, following his lack of track time on Friday.
“I think deep down, if we forget the scoreboard, so to speak, I think it was a good session,” he said.
“We didn’t get any dry running yesterday, we had a few laps this morning to get into it – including a spin. And then obviously quick work to find those few tenths in quali. So for that, I’m pleased with us being pretty much there. But it’s not Q3.”
Ricciardo is bullish about his prospects of fighting for his first points of the season on Sunday.
“We’re obviously there on the cusp of points,” he said. “And after a good start, we will be in there and then we will not let them go. So points tomorrow.”
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2024 Japanese Grand Prix
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- Suzuka showed Mercedes “have a more stable platform” now
- Ferrari’s strategy gains in 2024 are “purely down to the car” – Sainz
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- Japan was first race where Red Bull’s winning margin was bigger than last year
Jere (@jerejj)
6th April 2024, 12:10
Easier said than done, though.
Finishing in the points, even for Tsunoda, will be difficult on merit, albeit not impossible.
Laz
6th April 2024, 17:34
Stroll looks further off it than usual. With him buried in the pack it might open up the door for someone in the midfield to score a point and these two are first in line to snatch the opportunity.
Ajaxn
6th April 2024, 14:46
As a team, they’ll have to work together on keeping the rest behind them, and not get in each other’s way.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
6th April 2024, 15:15
Yuki could possibly get a point … maybe two.
Danny Ric will simply continue to grin (and stare into the distance) at every photo op, because that is his job these days.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
6th April 2024, 19:02
Ricciardo was 0.05s ahead in Q1 and 0.05s behind in Q2. The gap in Bahrain was a tenth, in Saudi Q1 a tenth. Not to mention finishing ahead in Bahrain.
I think Yuki has been performing at a very high level for the last dozen races, Ricciardo is fairly matched with him on quali pace. I think writing him off as a marketing exercise is unfair.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th April 2024, 22:27
Yes, need to see what he can do in the race now that he has a good quali position.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
6th April 2024, 16:52
The Visa Application looks faster than the cars behind here. Anything like Yuki’s solid drive like Melbourne plus the magic of a home race and Dan will have trouble keeping up with him.
They should look out for Stroll working his way up in a quicker car, and Haas or Williams trying things in case of yellows and rain.
Honda
6th April 2024, 17:20
Yuki was screwed last year, that 4lap undercut Lawson got on him destroyed his race as he was stuck and he was at least 0.3secs faster per lap on the final stint. I do not think it is going to be easy. Hulk is not too far behind and Haas seems good in races this year. Impossible to overtake on straights as well. Stroll should have good pace too in the race. They have to watch out for undercut behind them. In Bahrain Zhou had 4 lap undercut and he ended up ahead of the queue, KMag too got them in pits.
Erkr
6th April 2024, 17:29
If anything, trust RB to screw up Yuki’s strategy, then people will lap it up meaning Danny has his mojo back. As you explained, I think it puts into perspective that Lawson did not actually beat Yuki at all in a straight fight
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th April 2024, 22:32
That is also the impression I got, however if I had picked the line up back then it’d have been tsunoda and lawson this year, I was surprised about them not giving lawson a season.
Haas Khan (@haas918)
7th April 2024, 4:57
Good to see Ricciardo able to close the gap with his teammate but it is highly unlikely that they both finish the race in top 10.