Yuki Tsunoda made an impressive return to Formula 1, securing 12th place in sprint qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix. The Japanese driver expressed satisfaction with his performance, especially considering he had been out of the cockpit for eight months.
Tsunoda's comeback was unexpected. Isack Hadjar suffered a wrist injury during the summer break, forcing him to withdraw from the Zandvoort round. Consequently, Liam Lawson was promoted to Red Bull, and Tsunoda, a reserve driver for both teams, inherited the Racing Bulls seat.
In his 115th career grand prix, Tsunoda completed 35 laps in practice, finishing 17th with an eight-tenth gap to rookie team-mate Arvid Lindblad. However, in sprint qualifying, he reduced that deficit to 0.433s in SQ1 and 0.360s in SQ2, securing 12th on the grid.
This was Tsunoda's first experience with the 2026-spec cars, which feature new engines with 47% electric power, making energy management crucial. "Honestly, everything feels like a rookie. Brake pressure, everything is different to last year," he said. "We have two sets of tyres, you don't want to damage them straight away, so it was tricky. But I'm pretty satisfied with my performance."
Tsunoda also highlighted the new car's reduced downforce, especially in high-speed corners. "I've driven last year's car, which is probably one of the fastest in history, and I enjoyed it. But this car feels very different," he explained. "At a traditional track like Zandvoort, there's not much run-off, so you want to build up gradually."
His main objective is final qualifying on Sunday. With only the top eight scoring points in the sprint, Tsunoda will use the 24-lap race to gain experience and valuable data. "I think I'm building up session by session. I'm excited for the long run tomorrow," he concluded.
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