Yuki Tsunoda has stated that he feels his confidence has finally returned this weekend after qualifying on the outside of row four for tomorrow’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Japanese rookie, whose first season in Formula 1 has been a mixture of highs and lows, managed to out-qualify his teammate Pierre Gasly for the first time this year after putting his Alpha Tauri eighth on the grid ahead of Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo.

Despite this being his first visit to the Yas Marina Circuit and having the setback of his first run in Q3 being deleted for track limits infringements, Tsunoda expressed his happiness that his confidence had finally returned after a dismal run of form. 

“It’s been a good weekend so far but I’m of course a little frustrated today, it’s such a shame about the track limits in Q3, I think it was a good lap especially without a tow.”

“My confidence has really returned this weekend and it shows on track, it’s the most confident I’ve felt in the car since the first race in Bahrain, so that’s really positive. I’m really pleased with my Q2 lap and it means I’ll be starting the race on the Mediums, which is a really strong position to be in.”

Tsunoda hopes that with his excellent starting position, he can end his maiden campaign in the sport on a high.

“It’s definitely a good way to finish the season, with a strong Qualifying, and I just have to put it altogether when it counts tomorrow.”

Alpha Tauri’s technical director Joey Egginton praised Tsunoda’s efforts in Q2 and Q3 after the Honda-backed junior managed to avoid traffic and make his ninth appearance in Q3.

‘’Yuki managed to close a clean lap whilst Pierre was unfortunate with a snap at T9, which compromised this corner and the remainder of this lap. Both cars made a second run on the Mediums in Q2, with Yuki completing a solid lap which put him in the top 10, while Pierre unfortunately struggled with out-lap traffic and could not execute a clean lap.’’

‘’This meant he missed out on Q3 on this occasion, ending the session in P12. Yuki’s first run in Q3 was very good, but an excursion beyond the track limit at T16 saw this lap deleted, however, his second run was clean seeing him line up for tomorrow’s race in P8.’’