Yuki Tsunoda said his target is set on Pierre Gasly during the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, hoping to “attack” his ex-team-mate for a potential top-five finish.
The RB has performed far better than expected in qualifying around the Las Vegas Strip Circuit with Tsunoda putting in a solid performance to fight his way into Q3.
In comparison to his teammate Liam Lawson who qualified in 15th place, Tsunoda was able to manage the car in the tricky, cool conditions.
Securing seventh place on the starting grid, Tsunoda is aiming to beat Gasly in the Grand Prix, who qualified his Alpine in an incredible third.
Tsunoda told select media including Motorsport Week: “Yeah, [seventh] that’s very good encouragement, you know, for us, but pretty far from Mr. Pierre Gasly.”
“So, you know, that’s a bit of a surprise, but he did really well, actually.
“Throughout the sessions, he was pretty consistent, and actually it’s not easy to do that, on this kind of track.
“But at the same time, yeah, being close to the top teams, which is really, really good.
“And actually, we struggled a lot last year against Las Vegas. So, yeah, we did really well.”
Tsunoda’s Las Vegas GP fight with Gasly for Constructors’ points
In the hunt for a sixth finish in the Constructor’s Standings, Tsunoda is looking to overtake Alpine‘s Gasly to overcome RB’s five-point deficit to the Anglo-French squad.
With Gasly being sandwiched between the two Ferrari drivers, he is expected to drop back during the race on Sunday to fight with Tsunoda.
Tsunoda continued: “Yeah, hopefully we can attack Pierre, you know. But also we have to look for the behind as well, for Nico [Hulkenberg] especially.
“So, yeah, I mean, it won’t be easy. You know, like I said, the pace itself is on the edge. I wouldn’t say it’s great. So, yeah, we have to do the maximum as we can.
“And also, like this kind of condition, anything can happen. Like last year, we saw there was a couple of safety cars as well. So, that’s how it goes. So far, it’s in a good way.”
Tsunoda on RB’s Las Vegas improvement
After a terrible opening day of practice, Tsunoda was pleased with RB’s recovery in Las Vegas.
From a rough practice session with a near hit with his teammate Liam Lawson to securing a P7 start on Sunday, Tsunoda is in the best position to pick up some extra points this weekend.
“Yeah, definitely. I mean, it started pretty rough for ourselves,” Tsunoda said.
“You know, we started P19, P20, in FP1. Actually, we were able to turn around the race weekend so far.
“You know, session by session we were able to improve. I mean, it’s hard to say with the upgrades, you know, if it’s working or not, but I assume it’s working.
“But it’s just hard to adapt to the setup. The setup was pretty… we were exploring around throughout the sessions, and I think kind of FP2, FP3 started to know what direction we have to take.
“And yeah, I think the good thing was we understood the upgrades, how it was working, and we were able to adapt quickly.”
READ MORE – How Yuki Tsunoda almost missed the F1 Las Vegas GP
