Yuki Tsunoda regret despite Red Bull relief

Yuki Tsunoda has expressed relief in completing a race distance on his debut with Red Bull - but was naturally disappointed in failing to finish in the points of his home race in Japan. 

Tsunoda started the Japanese Grand Prix 14th following a surprise Q2 elimination caused by a mistake on his final hot lap. At the chequered flag, he had climbed two places, falling short of a top-10 finish by four seconds.

Although pleased with his race pace, Tsunoda had been expecting much more to please his fans.

"I'm happy with the race in terms of my performance, but obviously in terms of results, it's quite tough, especially for my home grand prix," Tsunoda told Sky F1. 

"I was definitely expecting more, and I at least wanted to finish with a point. So yeah, it's mixed feelings."

Despite failing to score a point, Tsunoda took several positives from the race, given it was his first long run in the difficult RB21. 

Thrown in at the deep end after never having driven the car following his promotion from Racing Bulls, he departed Suzuka with a degree of confidence in knowing what is possible, especially with race winner Max Verstappen to learn from.

"The 53 laps I got in this race was the most laps I had," Tsunoda pointed out. "Every lap I was learning. Finally, I got decent laps in the car, and I feel more confident in it.

"I just feel, overall, I controlled it more towards the end of the race. I'm sure, if I'd had one more [lap] in qualifying, which didn't happen, it was just too late, but I'm sure [today] it [race result] would have been a little bit different as well. 

"I think I'm happy, considering the amount of time I had [in the car], but because it's my home grand prix, I just wanted to finish in the points. 

"I just have to do the pace. Fortunately, there's Max that I can learn from, so I just keep doing what I'm doing, and I'm excited for Bahrain."