Yuki Tsunoda is already setting his personal expectations for the upcoming 2025 Components 1 Japanese Grand Prix!
The 24-year-old F1 driver will make his debut with Oracle Purple Bull Racing on the race in a single week, which can be his dwelling race.
Only a few days in the past, it was formally confirmed that Yuki would transfer up to the crew from the Racing Bulls junior crew, swapping locations with Liam Lawson after a tough first two races of the season.
Throughout an occasion over the weekend, Yuki opened up about his upcoming first race and the way he hopes to position prime three, whereas additionally acknowledging that he’ll nonetheless must get snug within the automotive.
Hold studying to search out out extra…
“I don’t wish to get my expectations too excessive, however at the start, I wish to get on the rostrum on the Japanese GP,” he mentioned, by way of Motorsport Japan. “Nevertheless, I don’t assume it is going to go so effectively from the beginning, so I want to grasp the automotive first, and regularly examine the way it compares to the Racing Bulls’ automotive from FP1. As soon as I can naturally get pleasure from driving it, I believe the outcomes will comply with. If that result’s a podium, that might be unbelievable.”
“I by no means thought I’d be racing for Purple Bull on the Japanese GP,” Yuki admitted. “I’m blissful, however I additionally really feel just like the crew is altering… I don’t assume I’ve ever been in a extra pressured and difficult scenario in my life, so I believe it’s going to be an extremely thrilling race.”
Yuki is optimistic in regards to the automotive after driving it on the simulator.
“On the simulator, I didn’t really feel it was such a difficult automotive,” he shared. “In fact, I had the impression that it was a automotive that was susceptible to turning on the entrance, as folks usually say, however by way of being difficult, it didn’t really feel that unusual. That’s, on the simulator, in any case.”
“In fact, I believe the kind of automotive I wish to make is completely different from Max [Verstappen], so I wish to make automotive myself, perceive it, and regularly begin operating it,” he mentioned.
Purple Bull advisor Helmut Marko additionally just lately admitted that they need to have promoted Yuki to the principle crew, as a substitute of Liam Lawson.
“Yuki Tsunoda is a quick driver, we all know that, however he’s had his ups and downs,” Helmut shared with Formel1.de. “That’s why we thought Lawson was the higher and stronger candidate. However Yuki has undergone a change. He modified his administration, and on this scenario, this was merely the best choice.”
Helmut additionally shared that they made the choice to advertise Yuki after finishing some simulator periods following the Chinese language Grand Prix.
“We needed to act shortly,” the advisor mentioned. “And the whole lot was constructive. Additionally the technical suggestions, which he had usually been accused of missing, that he didn’t perceive the technical facet or couldn’t arrange a automotive — that additionally turned out to be incorrect.”
Helmut insisted that there gained’t be any extra adjustments to the Purple Bull crew this 12 months, with Yuki ending out the remainder of the season.
