Yuki Tsunoda has revealed that a last-minute Red Bull upgrade allowed him to secure a long-awaited Q3 appearance at the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.
Tsunoda had failed to make it into the top-10 shootout for six consecutive race weekends prior to qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday.
But not only did the Japanese driver break this particular streak, his final Q3 effort secured him his best-ever starting grid slot with the Milton Keynes-based squad.
Tsunoda in seventh was within four-tenths of his team-mate Max Verstappen, who will start the 44-lap race on Sunday from the second row of the grid in fourth.
“Yeah, I’m happy with [the Q3 result],” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“To be honest, the scrubbed tyre was quite off. Also, when I saw the field, everyone was struggling as well. Having only one set and going into that situation, we had a lot of pressure.
“But also, at the same time, enjoying that kind of situation. I mean, already being in Q3, it’s been a while, so just enjoy the session. Yeah, pleased with the position I got.”
Tsunoda found the better half of three-tenths between Friday and Saturday, having been knocked out in SQ2 and unable to make any moves up the field during the Sprint Race.
The Honda-backed driver credits this upturn in pace to the last-minute floor upgrade the team fitted to his RB21 just in the nick of time before qualifying.
“Also, the team did a good job to bring me the upgrades just before qualifying,” he asserted.
“So, that was big enough to gain this position. Also, still some bits to go, but it was big enough anyway. Yeah, certainly I feel much better.”
Tsunoda admits Red Bull RB21 easier to drive with update
Tsunoda has been struggling to adapt to the inherent characteristics of the RB21, which has been dubbed a tricky beast to tame up and down the paddock.
But his performance during qualifying could be a sign that the recent floor upgrade has pushed the car’s balance more towards Tsunoda’s liking.
“We saw already on the paper how much difference we had since, I don’t know, I mean, considering always the difference I had in terms of the lap time I had between Max and myself, it wasn’t that huge,” explained Tsunoda.
“So I knew already in myself, also in the engineering group, that we are in the right direction. For myself to improve in the way we want, I’m happy that I improved it.”
The 25-year-old detailed how the revised RB21 feels like a car with a wider operating window, giving him the confidence to extract more lap time.
“But yeah, in general, a bit more grip. Just the previous one was a bit more sensitive with anything, you know. Like once you slide, over slide, it just never bothered,” he highlighted.
“This one, a bit more, you can handle like, I would say, you can, I don’t know, be aggressive with it.
“But yeah, let’s see in the race. But tomorrow seems like it’s going to be a bit different story for the rain.”
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