Tsunoda still fighting for P2 in the Championship after Feature Race win
Yuki Tsunoda has said he’ll be fighting hard to snatch second place in the Formula 2 championship, after taking the Feature Race win in Sakhir.
The Carlin driver, who started on pole, initially lost the lead at the start to Nikita Mazepin but was determined to focus on his own race and tyre management until later on.
He said: “The last five or ten laps I saw, especially in P2, (Robert) Shwartzman I think it was, starting to struggle on the tyres. I tried to overtake him once, or else Nikita was going to pull away from me.
“I overtook him and it was good. After that I was also thinking that the tyres felt like they still had potential to catch Nikita, but it was not really a big difference compared to him. I just tried not to make mistakes and catch him little-by-little.”
Throughout the race, Tsunoda continued to develop his race craft and learn as he went. After having difficulties overtaking Shwartzman around the outside, he recognised that the track was less suited to those moves and dived up the inside of Mazepin to take the lead.
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The short circuit meant that several drivers were lapped during the middle stages of the race. At one point, Christian Lundgaard unlapped himself by overtaking both Tsunoda and Mazepin.
The ART driver’s moves were later criticised by Mazepin, as Lundgaard currently sits sixth in the drivers’ standings one place behind the Hitech driver.
Speaking about capitalising on Lundgaard’s moves, Tsunoda said: “When he overtook Nikita, I got a little bit more of a chance. I used that chance and overtook Nikita.”
Although he is no longer in title contention, the Red Bull junior was happy to have secured enough points for a Super Licence. It is rumoured that he will be signed for AlphaTauri for the 2021 Formula 1 season alongside Pierre Gasly.
However, Tsunoda is not planning on being complacent and intends on racing hard in tomorrow’s season finale Sprint Race.
He said: “I’ll try to fight in the Championship for P2 maybe? I’ll fight as much as possible, and after tomorrow’s race I’ll celebrate with the team for the whole season.”
Will Tsunoda secure P2 in the championship tomorrow?
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*Image Credit: (C) Formula Motorsport Limited
