Yuki Tsunoda is already facing the same problem as Liam Lawson on Red Bull debut at Japanese Grand Prix

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Yuki Tsunoda made a promising start to his Red Bull career in the opening practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix. He was sixth fastest in front of his home fans.

Tsunoda was more than six-tenths off the benchmark set by McLaren driver Lando Norris. Crucially, though, he was only a tenth adrift of teammate Max Verstappen.

The session counts for little to nothing, of course, but predecessor Liam Lawson never got that close to the four-time world champion. Tsunoda arrives with far more experience, having started nearly 90 Grands Prix.

He’s looking to break the so-called ‘curse of the second seat’ at Red Bull. Daniel Ricciardo was starting to struggle before he left in 2018 as Verstappen grew in stature., and perhaps that foretold the woes of Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez and Lawson.

Yuki Tsunoda’s track time severely restricted at Japanese Grand Prix – Liam Lawson had same issue

FP2 at the Japanese Grand Prix was bizarre, bordering on farcical. There were four red flags during the session, the first of which was brought out by Jack Doohan’s severe crash.

Doohan, who visited the medical centre, was okay after the high-speed shunt at turn one. But the marshals had to carry out repair work to the barriers, such was the ferocity of the impact.

Shortly after the action resumed, Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso made an uncharacteristic error, spinning off between the Degner corners and beaching his car in the grass. That triggered another stoppage.

And then, in a repeat of the 2024 Chinese GP, the grass at the side of the circuit caught fire twice. That, of course, meant the drivers had to return to the pits on safety grounds.

The result was that running was severely restricted. This will perhaps be most impactful for Tsunoda, who’s trying to adjust to a brand-new car.

“Nobody got proper laps in. They didn’t do any work today. The teams might as well not have done that practice,” was Jacques Villeneuve’s summary on the F1 Show.

Tsunoda finished down in 18th place, 2.5 seconds off the pace, but he didn’t set a representative time. He completed just 12 laps.

Normally, a driver would log a qualifying simulation before an all-important long run. But Tsunoda may not have the opportunity to drive the car on full fuel before his maiden race.

At the Australian GP last month, Lawson missed virtually the entirety of FP3 with a power unit issue. That may have partly explained the Q1 exit that followed.

What Japanese GP organisers frantically did after Red Bull driver swap

Just like Lawson, Tsunoda will enter his first meaningful sessions as a Red Bull driver having missed out on crucial mileage. The consolation is that his baseline may be higher.

The 24-year-old had around a week and half to prepare for the race, with Lawson demoted just after the Chinese GP. Tsunoda impressed Helmut Marko on the simulator at the Red Bull factory.

The timing of the swap led to frantic changes at Suzuka. On Thursday, Lawson and Tsunoda were missing from the banner on the back of the grandstand.

Organisers had to pull down all of the headshots of the New Zealander in Red Bull gear. And to capitalise on Tsunoda’s move, they rushed to get the new images up quickly.