Yuki Tsunoda issues ‘realistic’ Visa Cash App RB concern for F1 2024 Bahrain GP

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Yuki Tsunoda admits Visa Cash App RB are ‘realistic and hopeful’ about the F1 team’s chances of reaching Q3 at the 2024 season-opening Bahrain GP come Friday evening.

The 23-year-old fears it will not be ‘easy’ for his Faenza squad to produce a top 10 car over a single lap in Sakhir. Pre-season testing did not fill Tsunoda with tenacious belief in his team’s new challenger as they transition from AlphaTauri into Visa Cash App RB – or simply only RB.

RB showed early promise at the home of the Bahrain GP as the Formula 1 field regrouped at the only winter test. Daniel Ricciardo sealed the VCARB-01 fourth on the timesheets for day one. He also completed 52 laps as Tsunoda made 64 tours of the track over his first outing.

Yuki Tsunoda admits Visa Cash App RB must be ‘realistic’ about qualifying at the Bahrain GP

Ricciardo was also the fifth-fastest driver on day two amid a further 88 laps as Tsunoda also enjoyed another 40. While it was the Japanese gem’s turn to set RB’s pace on day three with the fifth-best time. Tsunoda also posted 53 laps as Australian racer Ricciardo enjoyed 70.

A late hurrah saw Tsunoda do a glory run with the C4 Pirelli tyres as Visa Cash App RB sent him out for a qualifying simulation. But the Kanagawa native refuses to get carried with their top times as rival teams kept their cards closer to their chest by running in worse conditions.

“Please, don’t take it like that,” Tsunoda urged, via quotes by Motorsport-Total. “It’s still far too early. A lot of cars did their [flying] laps when it was hot, so don’t expect too much.

“We’re still realistic and hopeful. So, it’s more of a kind of hope that we can get into Q3. Realistically speaking, it’s still not easy to fight for the top 10.”

Yuki Tsunoda only reached Q3 at four of Formula 1’s 22 Grand Prix in 2023

Times from pre-season testing rarely paint a true picture of how the Formula 1 grid will look after the first qualifying of the year. Visa Cash App RB also have to make great strides with a new name to give Tsunoda and Ricciardo a quicker single-lap car than as AlphaTauri in 2023.

Tsunoda only reached Q3 at four of the 22 Grand Prix last year, while Ricciardo made the top 10 in one of his seven outings. Liam Lawson also reached Q3 for the Singapore GP during his five rounds as Ricciardo’s stand-in. Nyck de Vries never made it beyond Q2 in his 10 races.