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Yuki Tsunoda's efforts in the Australian GP qualifying session have certainly left an impression on Red Bull motorsports advisor Helmut Marko, who hailed the young Japanese driver's "incredible" performance.
The battle for supremacy at the RB team has been heating up in the first three rounds of the 2024 season. Tsunoda seems to have the upper hand over his experienced teammate Daniel Ricciardo, having outqualified him in all three outings.
In Saturday's qualifying session, a track limit excursion relegated Ricciardo to an 18th place grid position. On the other side of the garage, Yuki Tsunoda qualified eighth, ahead of the two Aston Martin drivers, 10 spots ahead of his teammate.
Helmut Marko heaped praise on Tsunoda's second Q3 appearance of the season and highlighted his flawless qualifying effort. Marko expressed hope that Tsunoda would secure RB's first points of the season this weekend.
"He got into the top 10 again. That was an incredible performance," Marko told Servus TV.
"He was always there, without mistakes. I hope that we’ll get into the points now because the speed is there. That was already the case in the first two races. That would be great because the first five teams are so strong. So if you manage to get in there, that’s an incredible achievement."
Yuki Tsunoda qualified P11 in the opening round of the season at Bahrain, and backed it up with a P9 starting position for the Saudi Arabian GP. His impressive qualifying results have been overshadowed by his run-in with teammate Daniel Ricciardo after the Bahrain GP.
Tsunoda has the opportunity to score points this Sunday, and a top-10 result would earn more praise from Red Bull honcho Helmut Marko.
Daniel Ricciardo left "puzzled" with deficit to Yuki Tsunoda
The Aussie F1 driver had a disappointing qualifying session on his home soil. He was left puzzled with the deficit to his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, despite giving his best efforts.
Daniel Ricciardo claimed that his deleted laptime was the 'best qualifying' effort this season, but was baffled after realizing the gap with teammate Tsunoda.
"The lap itself I was happy with. From my side, I felt like I got everything out of it. And then when I saw it still wasn't good enough, let's say, compared to Yuki," Ricciardo said in the post-session interview (via Autosport).
"I'm still a bit puzzled because I know what those laps normally mean. So, I crossed the line, being like 'Yeah, that was a good one'."
The Australian GP on March 24, presents a second chance for Daniel Ricciardo to salvage a decent result in front of his home crowd.
