Tsunoda on conversation with Marco: "He put some pressure on me"

It is a fact that Yuki Tsunoda has not had a great start to his career in Formula 1. The young Japanese driver cannot match the level of Gasly and has only recently found his rhythm. Especially during the qualfications.

If he hadn't received a grid penalty yesterday, he would have been in the top ten at the start of today's race. However, Tsunoda also met with Helmut Marko after his previous race, in France. "He gave me some advice," he told Sky Sports.

"That worked. But on the other hand, he didn't enjoy the conversation. He didn't enjoy it. It was 50/50. He put some pressure on me. Finally, I got it done in qualifying. So hopefully he's a little less stressed now than he was before Friday. He wants me to get the points tomorrow. This was the first step in qualifying. To make myself and him happy I have to score points. I hope I won't make a stupid mistake, but I think he's happy now."

Tsunoda on penalty after qualifying

So, as mentioned, Tsunoda received a three-place penalty for obstructing Bottas during qualifying. "There was a gap between me and Valtteri. Before Turn 4 you also have a slope, so I only saw him in the braking zone. If I had gone to the inside, I was on his braking zone. I expected him to overtake me on the inside, so there was no option but to go straight. To be honest I don't think I ruined his lap too much".

Anyway, the AlphaTauri driver will have to start the Austrian Grand Prix outside the top ten. AlphaTauri seems to be very fast in Austria, so points for Tsunoda should be achievable this afternoon.