Yuki Tsunoda has explained how he opted not to attack Liam Lawson as much in the fight for fifth during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, in order to support Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen’s title chances by not giving an opportunity to McLaren’s Lando Norris behind in seventh.
After lining up in P6 on the grid – his best Qualifying result as a Red Bull driver – Tsunoda made a clean start and held off any potential challenge from Norris in the early stages. As the race progressed, the Japanese driver found himself on the tail of Lawson in the Racing Bulls car, whilst still keeping Norris at bay.
The trio ultimately crossed the line with Lawson in fifth from Tsunoda in sixth – the margin standing at just over half a second – and Norris in seventh.
However, speaking during F1 TV’s post-race show later on, Tsunoda suggested there were potentially opportunities for him to overtake Lawson but that he felt it was safer not to do so, meaning that it did not present a chance for Norris to capitalise – a move that would have allowed the Briton to gain further points on Verstappen in the championship fight.
“I enjoyed the first stint, for sure,” Tsunoda reflected on his afternoon in Baku, a race that was comfortably won by Verstappen. “The second stint was also very hard for me, especially with McLaren behind and thinking about [the] championship, both Teams’ and Drivers’ Championship for Max.
“There were a lot of opportunities I could probably go [down the] inside and attack Liam, but there is a lot more risk that maybe McLaren will overtake both of us or [pass Liam], which he will step up one more [position].
“I think as a Red Bull you don’t want to have that, and I think I did the right decision not challenging him. But at the same time, I didn’t have enough pace to overtake comfortably.”
While Saturday’s Qualifying session proved to be one of the most eventful in recent history – amid a record six red flags throughout – Sunday’s race did not feature as many incidents. Asked if conditions had felt different – particularly in terms of the wind gusts at the track – Tsunoda responded: “It’s a lot different to yesterday, for sure.
“I was hoping to not have a Safety Car with my strategy, especially in the beginning, and I was more hoping towards the end that [there might be] a Safety Car. [I] was a bit surprised.
“I think last year as well, we didn’t have much Safety Car [deployment] and I think drivers started to get used to it, and I think it shows how the level is very high in this current Formula 1 grid. With that, I enjoyed it.”
With his P6 marking his strongest outing since his promotion to the main Red Bull team ahead of Round 3 in Japan, Tsunoda acknowledged that the result has given him a boost as he looks to keep on improving during the remainder of the campaign.
“It’s something that gives me more confidence in the future,” the 25-year-old said. “I think we made a couple of changes to the car, which got supported a lot from the team, and also I put my effort into my long run [performance].
“Last week I saw some trend that Max is doing a little bit differently compared to myself, and I had an idea and immediately translated it in the simulator, and I feel something good there but obviously translating it into this real track is a different story.
“I think I’m able to try some multiple steps and show some good steps with that, show some pace from that simulator. It’s not the level that I want yet, but I think from the changes to the car it helps a lot for myself, but also some bits from my driving style match well with these changes, so I just keep [with] what I’m doing now and progress more.”