Naomi Schiff ‘hugely impressed’ by 23-year-old star in Australian GP qualifying

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One driver who comfortably beat his teammate in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix left Naomi Schiff ‘hugely impressed’.

Four drivers maintained perfect records against the man on the other side of the garage in Melbourne.

And one of those came in for special praise from Schiff on Sky Sports F1’s post-qualifying show.

Max Verstappen took pole position for Red Bull, while Sergio Perez dropped to sixth after a three-place grid penalty for impeding Nico Hulkenberg.

Elsewhere, George Russell continued his early dominance against Lewis Hamilton as the seven-time world champion bowed out in Q2.

Esteban Ocon made it out of the opening session for the first time this year to leave Pierre Gasly behind at Alpine.

And Yuki Tsunoda reached Q3 for RB as Daniel Ricciardo lost his lap time and exited at the first hurdle, making it 3-0 to the Japanese driver.

Naomi Schiff applauds Yuki Tsunoda

Schiff commended Tsunoda on his showing at Albert Park, with the 23-year-old ultimately taking the eighth spot on the starting grid.

He was able to out-pace the Aston Martin duo of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, and he came within a matter of hundredths of beating Mercedes driver George Russell.

Schiff reckons Tsunoda can score some ‘serious’ points on Sunday after gatecrashing the top 10.

RB are one of four teams yet to get on the board this year alongside Williams, Sauber and Alpine.

Schiff said: “Hugely impressed. The fight at the front is clearly between those top five teams.

“It’s whoever gets to pierce into that top 10 that has the chance to put some serious points on the board.

“Today, that was Yuki.”

Tsunoda continues strong start to 2024 season

RB team principal Laurent Mekies said during qualifying that the top five teams would likely prove ‘too fast’.

On that basis, it seems that Tsunoda very much exceeded expectations as his teammate endured a miserable day.

It looked as if Ricciardo had made it safely through to Q2 but he tumbled down the order after race control deleted his lap for a track limits violation.

One journalist has told Tsunoda, who’s out of contract at the end of this year, that he’s already improved his chances of staying with RB for 2025.

Ex-F1 driver Christijan Albers feels that he remains ‘underrated’ even in his fourth season in the sport.

Indeed, there isn’t any expectation at this stage that he’ll be in contention for a seat at senior team Red Bull.

Perhaps Tsunoda can change that if he continues to dominant Ricciardo in the manner he is currently.