Tsunoda thrown in at the deep end at Zandvoort

Yuki Tsunoda has admitted that "everything feels like I'm a rookie" after a whirlwind return to Racing Bulls for the Dutch Grand Prix, where the Japanese driver was handed a last-minute race seat as part of his reserve duties.

Tsunoda was eliminated in the second phase of Sprint Qualifying at Zandvoort, but the result was a satisfying one given the circumstances. Having received a call on Tuesday that he would be racing, the 2026 regulations and machinery left him starting from scratch.

How the call-up happened

It was confirmed earlier in the week that Isack Hadjar would be unable to compete for Red Bull due to a wrist injury, leading to Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson stepping up to take his place. Tsunoda, who previously spent just over four seasons at the team between 2021 and 2025, then filled the vacant Racing Bulls seat.

This season, Tsunoda has acted as a test and reserve driver for the sister outfits after losing his full-time seat at Red Bull. Never having piloted the new 2026 cars, he prepared as much as possible and stayed out of trouble in a damp FP1 to finish P17 before improving to P12 in Sprint Qualifying, just 0.009s away from Lawson's effort.

"Everything feels like I'm a rookie"

Asked whether he was surprised at how successful the day had been, Tsunoda said: "Yeah, firstly, especially the rain condition, it was pretty surprising the amount of pace I had. I mean, I guess the rain condition I heard was also pretty much the first time for everyone [in 2026], so it was a little bit more equalised.

"Considering it's my first time in this car… But yeah, it was a bit more work I had to put in the dry condition. To be honest, everything feels like [I'm a] rookie, like brake pressure, everything, is a lot different to previous years.

"You have two sets of tyres, and you don't want to damage the tyres straight away. It was pretty tricky. In the end, I'm pretty satisfied with the performance I had in Sprint Qualifying. Obviously a couple more things that I can improve. [In] this kind of format, you want to gradually build."

Learning the new era

Outqualified by team-mate Arvid Lindblad, who will line up in the P10 grid slot for the Sprint, Tsunoda acknowledged that Friday's running was primarily about learning. Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer stated earlier in the day that the team are trying to reduce the pressure on Tsunoda by directing his attention towards Qualifying and the Grand Prix.

"It was very early stages, so it's a bit different, and maybe it's not fair to say, but most of the drivers were a little bit struggling with the balance and the brake performance, the amount of downforce that this car lost compared to last year," Tsunoda explained.

"I need to quickly adapt. I've driven last year's car, which is probably one of the fastest cars in history, right? I enjoy it so much with the TPCs [Testing of Previous Cars]. Going to this car feels a lot different, especially the high-speed corners.

"This kind of traditional track, there's not much room in the run-off areas, so you want to gradually build up. I enjoy this process. My main objective is tomorrow in Qualifying. So far, I think I'm able to build up session by session pretty good. I'm excited for a long run tomorrow, that's what I need for all of the data before Qualifying and the race."

Building towards the points

Racing Bulls are currently on a run of seven rounds with at least one driver in the top 10, and gradually building up will be crucial if Tsunoda is to contribute to that impressive streak. With the cars having changed dramatically since he last drove in F1, the Japanese driver is treating the weekend as a step-by-step education.