A rather satisfying 2025 start for Racing Bulls, Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar in Melbourne at the F1 Australian GP.
While Red Bull is struggling to find pace, Yuki Tsunoda secured P4 – only behind the two McLarens and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari – and rookie Isak Hadjar follows in P6 at the end of FP2.
“Well, obviously it’s a good start, for the first day. I’m sure other teams will pick up the pace tomorrow, in qualifying especially. It definitely looks good,” Tsunoda told the official F1 website.
“Inside the car, there’s not that much huge, I would say, outstanding with the balance and whatever. A happy day in the office, but obviously we just have to definitely keep focused and keep digging out the performance.”
Last season the team – the then AlphaTauri – closed in 8th place on the constructor’s standings as they couldn’t catch up with the midfield.
By the looks of it the competition this year doesn’t seem too weak as well, but Tsunoda seems confident heading into his 5th season in Formula 1.
“I think it’s going to be very, very tight in the field, so even if we squeeze that last five hundred milliseconds or whatever, that’ll be quite big.”
But what are the main rivals he thinks they should look out for in Faenza?
“Definitely Williams, I would say. Williams seem fast. I think in FP2, I’m sure we’re doing different things, I feel like. Alpine as well,” he replied.
“Those two teams that I mentioned will be pretty quick, but yeah, so far we’re leading, so at the same time we’ll take it as a positive, always looking forward. We’ll push 100% tomorrow.”
A good first day at Racing Bulls at the F1 Australian GP
Quite impressive debut for his teammate Isak Hadjar, who appeared already confident in the VCARB 02.
“To be fair, after the first lap I was really comfortable in the car in FP1,” he said.
“Foot to the floor and we just went step by step. Obviously, it’s really nice to have Yuki alongside me to compare and progress quite fast as well.”
And he certainly didn’t shy away from the Japanese’s pace, as in the first practice session he closed ahead of him in P9.
“I don’t know how the other teams are going to react tomorrow, but the most important is that I feel comfy. I was surprised with more my own performance than the car. In FP1 I was straight on the pace and I just felt comfortable on the long run and the short run.”
In a few hours he will be driving his first Qualifying session in Formula 1 and expectations are rather high.
“It’s not bold to say Q2, but I’d like to go to Q3, that’s for sure.”
