Local hero Tsunoda admits that driving at Suzuka during JapeneseGP practice was a 'dream come true' for him. F1
Tsunoda missed out on competing in his home grand prix in his rookie season last year owing to the cancellation of the race amid the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning Friday morning's opening practice session marked his first laps in anger of the famed figure-of-eight venue since he raced at Suzuka in Japanese F4 back in 2018.
Besides a brief trip through the gravel at Degner Curve midway through FP2, it was a fairly routine day for Tsunoda, who was 19th-fastest in FP1 before improving to 14th in the afternoon with a best time just three seconds off the pace set byRecalling the experience of leaving the pitlane at Suzuka in an F1 car for the first time, Tsunoda said:"It felt amazing, definitely a dream come true.
Commenting on the tricky conditions, he added:"It was really important to think carefully about the timing of when to find the sweet spot. In moments when the rain stopped, that's when my best times came, and sometimes the rain would start again on the next lap."But I wasn't thinking about the times, everyone will be running in the same conditions in qualifying, so I was focused on understanding the car and just accumulating experience of Suzuka.