Tsunoda: I wanted to finish in the points

Tsunoda had to endure a challenging weekend at his home Formula 1 race in Suzuka this weekend as he replaced Liam Lawson at Red Bull, a controversial decision that put the Japanese driver in the spotlight as to whether he can perform from the get-go.

While he had a decent start to his weekend, Tsunoda made an error in qualifying, which meant he was 15th fastest, outqualified by Lawson, who was 14th.

A grid penalty for Carlos Sainz meant Tsunoda started the race from 14th, but he only managed to finish 12th, not managing to score points on a day when his teammate, Max Verstappen, was winning from pole in the sister car.

It was far from being a disastrous weekend for Tsunoda and an improvement for Red Bull compared to the races when Lawson was driving for them.

Speaking after the race, Tsunoda said: "I am happy with my performance but I wanted to finish in the points. I was expecting more in my home grand prix so it is a mixed feeling.

"I am learning and gaining confidence in the car. I felt controlled. I am happy considering the amount of time I had in the car," he added.

Later in Red Bull's race report, Tsunoda explained: "I was feeling a lot of support from the crowd, every lap it felt more and I wanted to give something more back to them.

"At least I know I did the maximum I could in the race and these 53 laps gave me so much to learn about the car. I now know what kind of things I need to work on. I was stuck behind cars all day in traffic so it's hard to know the full race pace of this car but, every lap of the 53, I was building up my confidence in the car.

"That confidence level is now completely different from the beginning of the weekend to now, I feel positive about that, but I am still disappointed because it is a home Grand Prix and it's only once a year," he admitted.

With the Bahrain Grand Prix up next as the second race in the triple header, Tsunoda continued: "I need to reset before Bahrain and I am sure compared to what I was feeling, in terms of car and in terms of confidence it will naturally be better there.

"I will understand more about the car, and I am excited for the next one, I just need to do better in qualifying, he concluded.

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner had some words of support for his new driver; he told the media: "[Yuki Tsunoda] has dialed himself into the car and team. He should make a step forward over the next few races."

In Red Bull's post race media brief, he added: "It was a solid performance for Yuki. The nature of the race meant overtaking was hard to come by throughout.

"But he made some ground and will only improve as he continues to settle into the Team the next few races," Horner concluded.