All eyes were on Yuki Tsunoda as he took part in his first practice session for Red Bull since replacing Liam Lawson and Christian Horner has given his verdict on his performance.
Tsunoda has come in for Lawson as Red Bull’s second driver just two races into the season, with the New Zealander dropping into the Japanese’s old seat at Racing Bulls.
Lawson was brutally dropped as Max Verstappen’s sidekick at Red Bull after a difficult start to the season which leaves him 16th in the Drivers’ Championship with no points.
Tsunoda made a solid start to life with his new team, finishing sixth fastest in the first session and just over a tenth off the pace of Verstappen while Lawson was 13th – five places and 0.3s off his team-mate Isack Hadjar.
The Japanese driver wasn’t given the chance to show much in a second session that was red-flagged four times, unable to complete a representative lap on the soft tyres.
And Red Bull team principal Horner was pleased with what he saw from his new man.
Yuki Tsunoda took part in his first practice session for Red Bull in Suzuka on Friday
Christian Horner has given his verdict on the new Red bull driver’s debut for the team
‘I think that was a positive start for Yuki,’ Horner said after the first session. ‘He knows the circuit very well here, and his feedback is very clear, very concise in the car. It’s just the start of his journey with the team and plenty to get into.
‘He’s now in his fifth season in Formula One, so he’s got quite a lot of experience now behind him.
‘He certainly made, in a high-pressure situation, a positive start and he just needs to build on that now through the rest of the weekend.’
‘With hindsight, I think we asked a bit too much, too soon from Liam. We’ve got a lot of work to do with the car and unfortunately, sometimes, I think you’ve got to be cruel to be kind.
‘But he’s not out of Formula One – he’s gone back to the Racing Bulls – we still believe in him as a talent for the future and making use of Yuki’s experience will hopefully enable the engineers to make faster progress.
‘He brings experience and I think that knowledge is very useful.
‘This season is going to be all about a development race and that’s why we took the decision early. I think Liam would have got there, but it would have taken five, six, seven races or half a season – we don’t have that amount of time.
‘So, after discussing it internally, we decided, ‘Right, we’ve got to rip the plaster off now and get on with it’.
Tsunoda was sixth fastest in FP1, just 0.107 seconds slower than team-mate Max Verstappen
‘That’s what we chose to do and Yuki has jumped in and done a good job initially.’
Championship leader Lando Norris again looks set for a battle with team-mate Oscar Piastri as the McLaren pair set the pace during practice for Japanese Grand Prix.
McLaren have won the first two races of the season – Norris winning in Australia and Piastri in China – and are favourites heading into this weekend at Suzuka.
Piastri finished the day on top, only 0.049 seconds clear of Norris who was over four tenths clear of third-placed Isack Hadjar.