Tsunoda will change approach to qualifying as he targets "clean" F1 Portugal GP

Tsunoda qualified last at Imola after crashing out on his first lap in Q1.

The Japanese driver made his way into the top ten during the race, but spun out while attempting an ambitious move on Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton after the red flag stoppage.

Reflecting on his error-strewn weekend at Imola, Tsunoda says he "learned a lot". 

"Yes, especially Imola, it was a big week for learning," Tsunoda said. "I made two huge mistakes in the race week. For the team also, it was a really bad race week. I expect higher positions and also it was quite a big chance to score points so it was a real shame. I felt really sorry for the team. 

"As a driver, for learning, I learnt a lot from Imola. I take every positive for the future. It’s quite mixed feelings. Also for me, I need a clean race for the team and also for the teams’ standings. I think the performance is there so I have to just put it all together in the future."

Tsunoda explained how he’s going to change his approach to qualifying after admitting he treated Q1 at Imola like it was the last run in Q3, which led to his spin into the barriers.

"It’s a bit of a different situation to Bahrain and Imola," Tsunoda added. "For Portimao, I’ve never driven here. Expectations for me for this week is, to be honest, going to be a bit lower than Imola. So just try to build up the pace from the previous sessions, lap by lap. For qualifying, I will say, I have to change the approach, especially after Imola. 

"I shouldn’t do what I did in Imola, in Q1 there was a big problem. There was pace to go through to Q2 easily for the car and I just pushed like it was Q3, on a second set of tyres, from Q1 it was the first push [lap]. I will change the approach to qualifying. I will have to see the situation and the pace in free practice. 

"I try to have more consistency in qualifying. That’s the main target. The big learning thing was the mentality. I put a lot of pressure before the race week to score a lot of points and that gives me a bit of a ‘rushy’ feeling. I learned from that. That was a big thing for my learning."