Yuki Tsunoda had a gruelling race in Imola, finishing 10th in the Grand Prix.
The Japanese driver’s start was shaky. When the lights went out, he lost two places to Hülkenberg and Hamilton.
However he was able to salvage points for the team as they undercut the German in the opening stages. Lance Stroll came through towards the end on much fresher rubber to relegate the 24-year-old to P10.
Tsunoda believes the bad first lap cost him a position.
“Yeah, with a perfect race probably I would have been able to end up a step higher in position.
“For sure that start that I lost two positions hurt my race today, but still able to finish in the points. It wasn’t easy with the tyre management.
“So yeah, still will take it.”
RB F1’s starts this year have tended to be pretty poor. Both drivers got gobbled up at the start in Japan, with Tsunoda and Ricciardo losing two spots on Sunday.
Tsunoda explained more work is required, as he discussed that tyre preparation on the formation lap is not the issue.
“We’re really working hard on the starts throughout the races so far.
“But yeah, we improved a little bit, but for sure we need a step more because I would say consistency is not enough there.
“So we have to look to the future.
“I thought it was the tyre preparation and I think we did a lot of tyre preparation and work I would say. But yeah, it’s not enough.
“I think it’s coming from also consistency with the clutch and everything.
“I would say with the Red Bull, they’re able to have the same engine and they’re able to have a consistent start.
“So for sure there’s something that we are missing or we have to improve, but obviously we’re an individual team so we have to think about our strategy to make it work for sure.”
As they ended up behind Hülkenberg, RB F1 had their pace limited, and it forced them to pit far earlier than was ideal. While the undercut worked to get the German, Tsunoda was defenceless against Stroll in the closing stages as the Canadian had 25-lap fresher tyres.
On the positive side, the Japanese driver managed his tyres superbly over a 51-lap long stint to pull away from Hülkenberg once they cleared Sargeant and Guanyu. Those early stops eventually saw them end up in traffic.
“Yeah, I mean obviously it’s not ideal, especially when you’re aiming for probably more fighting with Mercedes, but we even lost the position even to one of Aston.
“So for sure Aston had a good pace today, but still we would’ve able to end it up in front of him.
“So yeah, that start for sure hurts a lot, but the positive thing is still we’re able to make it work with the 50-lap hard tyre, which wasn’t easy.
“Yeah, I think that’s positive for us at least.”
RB F1 seems to have a small but critical advantage over their midfield rivals now, and there’s even signs they could become a thorn in the side of Aston Martin.
Tsunoda is optimistic as he says he didn’t expect such speed around Imola. He’s feeling confident and positive ahead of Monaco next week, but he is not going to predict RB can fight in the top 6.
“Yeah, I mean it depends on the track. I mean to be honest this week with Imola I didn’t expect this much performance.
“And obviously every track there’s always something like is the car suited well or not, to this track or not.
“But Monaco, historically performing well, so I’m feeling more confident into the race week. But obviously we never know what’s going to happen.
“But I’m feeling optimistic with Monaco, and we just keep pushing with the development as well.
“And yeah, I’m feeling optimistic with that.“
