Tsunoda is sure that Bahrain weekend will be better after tough debut in Suzuka

On the back of a tough first race with Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix, home hero Yuki Tsunoda insisted that he expects a better performance and result at the next weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.

McLaren looked to be the dominant force across the practice sessions, but reigning champion Max Verstappen beat Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the all-important qualifying session to take his 41 career pole.

Although Norris and Piastri made a good start, the Dutchman maintained the lead, and the two McLarens were unable to put Verstappen under real pressure in the opening stint.

Despite some heated moments at the exit of the pit lane after the sole pit stop, Verstappen looked in complete control, and did not make any mistakes on his way to his fourth straight win at Suzuka. The Dutchman praised Red Bull for making the right calls in terms of setup and strategy, but he also suggested that the colder conditions might have played into the hands of the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

As for his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who made his Red Bull debut on his home soil, he was bogged down in traffic and could not make much progress. Although he managed to get past Liam Lawson at the start, and he also picked off Pierre Gasly in the pit stop period, he was unable to challenge for points in Suzuka.

Reflecting on his first race as the team-mate of Max Verstappen, Tsunoda insisted that he has been left frustrated by the lack of progress, but he took delight in his feelings behind the wheel of his new car.

“It’s tough today because I wanted to at least finish in the points. I am happy with the race in terms of what I have learnt but not in terms of result, so it’s mixed feelings. I was feeling a lot of support from the crowd, every lap it felt more and I wanted to give something more back to them.

"At least I know I did the maximum I could in the race and these 53 laps gave me so much to learn about the car. I now know what kind of things I need to work on. I was stuck behind cars all day in traffic so it’s hard to know the full race pace of this car but, every lap of the 53, I was building up my confidence in the car.

"That confidence level is now completely different from the beginning of the weekend to now, I feel positive about that, but I am still disappointed because it is a home Grand Prix and it’s only once a year. I need to reset before Bahrain and I am sure compared to what I was feeling, in terms of car and in terms of confidence it will naturally be better there.

The Japanese driver continued: "I will understand more about the car, and I am excited for the next one, I just need to do better in qualifying. A big congrats to Max, it is good to see one of the Honda engines win at our home Grand Prix, in their final year of collaborating with Red Bull.

"And finally, a special thanks to the Japanese fans, I feel like there were more than ever at the track and I feel very honoured to represent them. I am very happy to be able to drive in front of them as an Oracle Red Bull Racing driver, with a Honda engine," concluded Tsunoda.