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Yuki Tsunoda Shines in Red Bull Debut at Japanese GP Practice, Finishes Sixth

Posted : 04 April 2025

Yuki Tsunoda made an encouraging start to his Red Bull career in the first practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix, securing the sixth-fastest time. Tsunoda, who was promoted to the senior team after only two races in exchange for Liam Lawson, was just 0.107 seconds behind his teammate, four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

 

Despite the solid performance, the Red Bulls trailed more than 0.5 seconds behind Lando Norris of McLaren, who topped the timesheets by 0.163 seconds ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes.

 

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton placed third and fourth, respectively, with Verstappen in fifth and Tsunoda in sixth. Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin rounded out the top 10, showcasing a highly competitive field.

 

While Tsunoda had a few tense moments, including running wide at Degner One and experiencing oversteer at the hairpin, he managed to keep his car on track and approach the session maturely, especially in a car known for its tricky handling.

 

Tsunoda's engineer informed him at one point that he was about 0.3 seconds behind Russell, but the Japanese driver remained focused on his performance, replying, "Let's focus on ourselves. I don't need much reference time."

 

 By the end of the session, Tsunoda seemed satisfied with his efforts, commenting, "I found the car interesting on track. Good 'sesh'." His performance was a promising start to his tenure with Red Bull, as he familiarized himself with his new car.

 

Meanwhile, Norris' McLaren had a few errors early in the session, including a mistake on his first run with the medium tires and a subsequent issue at the chicane on his soft tire run, which caused him to slide into the gravel.

 

 However, after cooling down his tires and recharging his hybrid battery, Norris set the fastest time, pushing Russell down to second. Ferrari, although fast, was off Norris’ pace, with Leclerc 0.416 seconds slower, and Hamilton 0.086 seconds behind his teammate. Verstappen and Alonso also struggled with the car's balance, while Lawson, returning to Racing Bulls, placed 13th, 0.311 seconds off the pace.

 

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