Yuki Tsunoda expressed relief in completing a race distance on his Red Bull debut, but was naturally unhappy to finish outside the points in his home race in Japan.
Tsunoda started the Japanese Grand Prix 14th after a shocking Q2 elimination due to an error on his penultimate hot lap. He had climbed two places by the checkered flag, but fell four seconds short of a top-10 finish.
Tsunoda was happy with his racing pace but expected much more to impress his fans.
“I’m happy with the race in terms of my performance, but obviously in terms of results, it’s quite tough, especially for my home grand prix,” Tsunoda said with Sky F1.
“I was expecting more, and I wanted to end with a point. So, yes, mixed sentiments.”
Despite failing to score a point, Tsunoda saw various benefits from the race, given that it was his first long run in the challenging RB21.
Thrown into the deep end after never driving the car since his promotion from Racing Bulls, he left Suzuka with a sense of confidence in what is possible, especially with race winner Max Verstappen to learn from.
“The 53 laps I got in this race was the most laps I had,” Tsuno
“I just feel like I had more control at the end of the race. I’m sure if I’d had one more [lap] in qualifying, which didn’t happen, it would have been too late, but I’m sure the race result today would have been slightly different as well.
“I suppose I’m delighted given how much time I had [in the car], but because it’s my home grand prix, I really wanted to finish in the points.
