Yuki Tsunoda has put F1 teams on notice after his impressive one-off return at the Dutch Grand Prix. The Japanese driver didn't just turn up; he delivered a performance that reminded the paddock of his abilities.
Tsunoda was relaxing on a beach in Greece when he received a last-minute call to replace Liam Lawson at Racing Bulls. Lawson had been promoted to Red Bull after Isack Hadjar was ruled out with a wrist injury. Despite zero preparation, Tsunoda looked sharp all weekend.
He qualified 12th and finished 11th, narrowly missing out on points while outperforming teammate Arvid Lindblad. "Honestly, I think I was able to progress faster than I expected," Tsunoda said. "I drove only four times out of eight months since last year in Abu Dhabi, so with that, I did pretty well."
The challenge wasn't just physical; it was technical. "The challenging part was pretty much everything, a lot of things learning about deployment, buttons, everything – every procedure is different," he explained. "Degradation characteristics were a lot different, so hard to adapt. The team supported me a lot."
Despite not scoring points, Tsunoda believes he proved his worth. "I know what I can do. I think I pretty much showed what I can do to most of the paddock," he stated. "I was able to fight close to the points. I think the outcome was obviously better scoring points, but I did as much as I can."
Tsunoda, linked with an IndyCar switch, hopes this performance puts him back on F1 teams' radar. "It's up to my manager, and also other teams who are not decided yet about the next year's lineup, if they want to have me or not – but they should!"
When asked if his chances of a full-time F1 return had increased, Tsunoda paused before light-heartedly saying: "Call me, please!"
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