Tsunoda “had the potential for P1,” even without late PREMA crash

There may have been an element of good fortune in Yuki Tsunoda’s first Formula 2 win, but the Carlin racer believes he could have taken the Sprint Race victory, even without Robert Shwarztman and Mick Schumacher’s late collision.

Tsunoda was the beneficiary of the PREMAs crash in the final laps of the race, as he dashed ahead of them both to take the lead from third, but, the Japanese racer had carefully managed his tyres up until that point and had already began to quietly catch up with them.

“I had the potential for P1, even without the collision in front of me,” Tsunoda said following the race. “For sure, I could have been at least P2, because Robert looked like he was struggling with his tyres.

“Me and Mick had quite similar pace and we had a good battle in the end on the last lap. Maybe, I was a little lucky, but for me, I had really good pace.

“I didn’t expect both PREMAS to hit each other at Brooklands, but I still had really good pace up until the end, so I am really happy with the result.”

The two PREMAS had been fighting over first for the majority of the race, while Tsunoda had built up a 13s gap on Jack Aitken in fourth, allowing him to look after his Pirellis and patiently wait for an opportunity to arise.

“The tyre management was really, really good,” he continued. “I was getting a lot of dirty air from the cars in front, which made it difficult to manage the tyres. We done a good job though, and I done a good job with the tyre management and the car was really good for the race.

“I am really, really happy to take my first win in the Sprint Race. A big thanks to Carlin. This is a big step for me, for the future.”