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Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko was full of praise for Visa Cash App RB driver Yuki Tsunoda after he finished P7 in the Australian GP.
The Japanese driver had an unbelievable weekend in Melbourne as he qualified P8 for the main race and managed to hold onto his position. He finished in P8 but was promoted a place higher after Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso was given a drive-through penalty which converted to a 20-second penalty for influencing George Russell's crash.
Speaking to Motorsport Japan, the Red Bull advisor termed Yuki Tsunoda as a 'mature driver' and analyzed his race. He said:
"Yuki ran perfectly from the first lap on Friday and set very consistent and good times in today's race. When [Haas' Nico] Hulkenberg attacked, he immediately countered. I think we have confirmed that Yuki is an absolutely mature driver."
On the team's official website, the Japanese driver too was delighted with the result and described his relief after scoring points for the team in 2024 after near misses in Bahrain and Jeddah. He added:
“Finally, a top-ten finish, the team definitely deserves it, and I’m very happy! We were very consistent throughout this weekend and the car felt good straight away, so we just had to put it all together and have a clean race to score points in this tight midfield, and we were able to achieve that today.
"We didn’t make any mistakes and it’s important for the team and me to have that confidence going into the next races. To have a clean race sounds easy, but the last two races have been frustrating for us, so finishing P8 today, after a productive restructuring, was definitely deserved."
Yuki Tsunoda previews his Japanese Grand Prix after points in Melbourne
Yuki Tsunoda stated that he was happy to head to his home race in Suzuka in a couple of weeks on a positive note as he is yet to score a point in Japan.
As quoted by the aforementioned source, the 23-year-old said:
"The whole weekend is a great way to go into Japan, especially with this result under the belt, and at least, I’m able to give some hope to the Japanese fans. I haven’t scored any F1 points at my home Grand Prix, but the car looks good, so let’s try again this year."
With Yuki Tsunoda's P7 finish in Melbourne, the Visa Cash App RB team has jumped Haas in the standings and has occupied the P6 slot.
