Tsunoda set goals too high in Imola: 'I was aiming for the top four'

Yuki Tsunoda is seen as the most promising talent of the new generation of Formula 1 drivers. After a relatively strong performance in Bahrain it didn't really work out in Imola. Due to a number of mistakes he finished outside the points. In Portugal he will therefore opt for a different approach.

"I set my goal too high," the Alphatauri driver told the Portimao press conference, including Motorsport.com. "Imola was the track I had the most experience with and I was enthousiastic about getting big points there. From free practice, I was thinking of aiming for the top four in qualifying."

Tsunoda was overcompensating

The free practice sessions didn't go quite as the Japanese driver had hoped, partly due to technical problems, but he didn't change his goals for qualifying and the race. The risk he took in doing so paid off with a crash and a spin. Tsunoda was very disappointed in himself, but is now trying to look on the bright side. "I made all the mistakes in one race," he said.

With this experience under his belt and not knowing the circuit in the Algarve, he will go into the race weekend in Portugal with a different attitude. "I'm going to try to build up the pace from FP1, lap by lap. And for qualifying, of course, I would say I have to do it differently, especially after Imola."