'Samurai Spirit' Tsunoda Praised By RB CEO After Japanese Grand Prix

Friday, 12 April 2024 at 16:30

Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer praised Yuki Tsunoda after a "mega drive" during the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix weekend.

It was rumored ahead of the 2024 season that the RB might have a car very similar to Red Bull's 2023 super-dominant RB19, which would allow the team to enter the battle with the top five.

So far, it seems those speculations haven't materialized. However, while RB doesn't necessarily have a faster car than any of the top five or some of the teams in the bottom five in the Championship, Tsunoda has been able to extract the most out of it both in Australia and Japan.

With the help of a few DNFs and Fernando Alonso's 20-second penalty, the 23-year-old was able to bring home an incredible P7 and six points for his team in Melbourne.

Coming to Japan, he then had a lot to prove and wanted to score a point in front of his home crowd, and in the end, he managed to do so after he crossed the finish line in P10. CEO of RB, Peter Bayer, told motorsport.com:

"He said he went out with the samurai spirit. I think it was an amazing achievement for him in front of the home crowd and Honda."

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While his mechanics, strategist, and everyone else also did a great job, it is thanks to Yuki Tsunoda that the Italy-based team now stands sixth in the Championship.

"That's something that we've seen now at the last couple of races, and he has made such big progress mentally."

While Daniel Ricciardo keeps struggling, Tsunoda feels super comfortable in the car he's being given, and he's making a very strong argument for the team to try and secure him for the next couple of seasons. Bayer added:

"Over the winter he made amazing progress physically, but mentally he is on a different level now."

"He's taking this up, and he's taking actually energy from it, rather than being distracted. I think this was certainly a mega drive from him."