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RB F1 A 'Very Positive' Day for Tsunoda Third at Imola

Tsunoda Excels at Imola, Takes Third in Practice

17/05/2024

Yuki Tsunoda impressed at Imola, finishing third in practice. The Japanese driver aims to maximize his time to further improve the car’s performance.

Yuki Tsunoda impressed on Friday at Imola. The RB F1 driver finished third for the day, consistently ranking among the top. Notably, the Japanese driver received his first reprimand of the season for performing a practice start outside the designated area at the end of the pit lane.

“I feel good; it was a very positive day. I was very consistent, and I’m looking forward to the coming days for our home race,” said the Japanese driver, who lives near the RB F1 factory in Faenza. He is pleased that there is no Sprint this weekend.

“I feel more comfortable, less stressed, because we know we have time to improve. But at the same time, we showed good performance. We need to put everything together and maximize the time we have without the Sprint format to improve the car, session by session.”

Tsunoda is cautious about getting too excited by his lap times: “So far, the top 10 seems likely, but anything can happen, so we need to stay sharp, especially now that the field is tight. We must aim to be as high as possible and focus as much as possible on the car’s performance.”

Ricciardo Confident but Less Competitive

Daniel Ricciardo was just outside the top 10 after the second free practice session. Although trailing his teammate, he was pleased with his good pace without pushing too hard for a fast lap.

“It was good, better for Yuki, who had a very good day! I’m trying to find time; it’s on my side. It took me a while to get into the groove with some things,” said the Australian driver.

“I had difficulties in certain corners and need to improve the setup to gain confidence. I’m happy we have a normal weekend with another practice session tomorrow. It will be good; I’ll make some changes to the setup and aim to progress.”

“I don’t know what others are doing, but I don’t feel like I did a very good lap, and I’m 11th. On other weekends, we do a very good lap and still end up 11th! Yuki did a good lap and is third, so it seems we have a car for Q3, but who knows? We’ll make some adjustments tonight, and it should be fine.”

Ricciardo Confident but Less Competitive

RB F1: A ‘Very Positive’ Day for Tsunoda, Third at Imola. RB F1: A ‘Very Positive’ Day for Tsunoda, Third at Imola

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