RB boss impressed by three key racing qualities of Tsunoda

Present at the press conference for team principals, Permane answered the question by admitting that he was surprised by the Japanese driver’s natural speed, especially in qualifying, but also by his ability to manage the tires.

"His speed, for one thing." he said. "I didn’t know Yuki at all before I started with the team in 2024, and I was immediately impressed by him — by his pace, by how he can handle the tyres, his qualifying pace, how he could get on top of the tyres as quickly as he did to extract the most out of the car in qualifying.

The Brit, who took over from Laurent Mekies as team principal in Faenza after the Frenchman’s promotion to Milton Keynes, admitted that he was pleasantly impressed by Tsunoda’s qualities, later describing him as a great driver.

In a challenging Friday for Red Bull, Tsunoda at least had the satisfaction of finishing the first practice session ahead of his teammate, ending in sixth place just ahead of Max Verstappen, with both drivers a second off the top of the timesheets.

In FP2, the Japanese driver slipped further back, finishing fourteenth compared to the four-time world champion’s sixth, with a gap of half a second.