RB drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo believe they can score points after qualifying tenth and 11th in Suzuka.
Tsunoda secured his third consecutive Q3 appearance to line up tenth at Suzuka. He got there by eliminating his team mate with his final lap in Q2.
Running in front of his home fans, Tsunoda admitted that he was eager to deliver a strong result and that it was more difficult to reach the top 10 than it had been in recent rounds.
“I felt a bit of pressure this time, I’m not going to lie, but was still able to go through into Q3,” Tsunoda told the official F1 channel.
“It wasn’t easy – the qualifying itself wasn’t as easy as I expected. I struggled with the balance, I would say. But overall, as a team, we did a fantastic job. Daniel is right behind me, so I think we can play around with the strategy, whatever, and try to score points.”
Tsunoda says he will do “whatever I can,” to ensure he takes points for the second consecutive round and for the first time at his home grand prix, but does not
“I think we have a good chance to score points, because I think one Aston Martin [Lance Stroll] – I don’t know what’s happened to him – but he’s behind.
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“We’ll try to score as much as possible. Even one point will still count. It seems this time, compared to the Mercedes or whatever, they’re a bit far away. But we’ll try to do as much as we can to score points – both cars would be perfect.”
After being stopped from progressing into Q3 by Tsunoda, Ricciardo admitted to having “mixed emotions” about his Saturday result, following his lack of track time on Friday.
“I think deep down, if we forget the scoreboard, so to speak, I think it was a good session,” he said.
“We didn’t get any dry running yesterday, we had a few laps this morning to get into it – including a spin. And then obviously quick work to find those few tenths in quali. So for that, I’m pleased with us being pretty much there. But it’s not Q3.”
Ricciardo is bullish about his prospects of fighting for his first points of the season on Sunday.
“We’re obviously there on the cusp of points,” he said. “And after a good start, we will be in there and then we will not let them go. So points tomorrow.”
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2024 Japanese Grand Prix
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