Yuki Tsunoda has explained that his confidence will continue to grow as he adapts to life as a Red Bull driver. The Japanese racer has demonstrated impressive pace so far, but results have been hard to come by.

“In terms of confidence, I’m happy, considering I’ve only done a few races and it’s going to grow,” he said in Jeddah. “For now I’m trying to understand how this car works, how to put it in the window it wants, from the point of view of tyre warm-up and set-up.

“I don’t think I understand even half of it yet. These things are the key I’m trying to work on to understand as soon as possible.”

The 24-year-old added: “Max senses more things in the car than I do, like for example the tyre temperature when you leave the garage. When the temperatures drop from Q1 to Q3, Max adapts.

“When the temperature drops, he can adapt the warm-up lap, he knows how to warm up the tyres in each corner, maybe increase the pace or things like that. I didn’t feel this. I couldn’t feel what I felt with the Racing Bulls. I still can’t feel it with this car, maybe simply because I’m not driving completely relaxed.”