Jakarta - Yuki Tsunoda admitted that he is starting to understand the character of the Red Bull car, the RB21, even though he failed to perform optimally in the qualifying session for the 2025 Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit, Saturday.
"It's disappointing, but the positive side is that I'm starting to understand the character of the car. Operating this car is quite difficult. The dimensions are narrower than VCARB, but at least I'm starting to be confident and know what to do later," Tsunoda was quoted as saying by the F1 website in Jakarta on Saturday.
Appearing in front of his home crowd, Tsunoda failed to live up to expectations by only finishing 15th, one place behind Liam Lawson, who he replaced at Red Bull and finished 14th.
However, both will move up one place on the starting grid for Sunday's race following Carlos Sainz's three-place penalty.
Tsunoda said the car's performance had actually been promising in the third free practice session, but he had not been able to translate that potential into qualifying due to difficulties in managing tire warm-up.