The AlphaTauri driver starred on his debut with an excellent run to P9 in Bahrain but went on to endure a string of difficult races in Italy, Portugal, Spain and Monac𒊎o that were hampered by mistakes.

Tsunoda’s struggles prompted Red Bull to ask the 21-year-old to relocate from Milton Keynes to move closer to AlphaTauri’s Faenza base and begin a new intense training regime💧 aimed at better embedding him into the team. Tsunoda was informed of the decision two days after he crashed in practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.

The J💜apanese racer bounced back with a convincing display in Baku as he claimed his first Q3 appearance of the season and followed that up with a strong drive to seventh in the race.

“Before Baku I had a couple of difficult race weekends, so the result there waꦰs a good feeling,” Tsunoda said. "Compared to previouꩲs races, my preparation was much better than normal and right from FP1, I felt ready.

“The week before Baku I moved to Italy, spending most of the time in the fꦇactory, studying our approach to race week and looking at ♉previous issues with the car.

“We 🌜decided to take a little bit of a different approach to the race week and have mo▨re conversations and that worked well. In Qualifying I made Q3 for the first time and overall, I think we have established a new baseline for how to approach a race.

“Th🧸e ove൲rall result was okay, I’m quite happy, even if it was a shame I lost a place after the restart.”

And Tsunoda believes his move ♚to Italy was justified by his performance ๊in Baku.

“Since Azerbaijan I have been bཧack in Italy,” he added. “The weather and the food are good, and I can spen𒁃d more time in the factory talking to the engineers.

“To move to Italy was the right decision 𝔉and something really positive for me, although it does mean I have to travel back to the UK for simulator sessions.”

Tsunoda hopes to carry his positive m🃏omentum intꦰo this weekend’s French Grand Prix, a circuit he has some knowledge of having previously raced there in Formula 3.

“I have raced in Paul Ricard twice before in Formula💝 3, which means it is a different situation after Portugal, Monaco and Baku which were all completely new to me, and that will be a positive factor,” he explained.

“Ricard will be different in a Formul�꧋�a 1 car and Sector 3 will be key to the lap, with tyre degradation maybe being an important factor. It’s quite a flat track and, unlike the last two races, there are no walls!

“There are very big run-off areas, so💫 I don’t have to be as cautious in my approach as I find the limit. Set-up wise it will also be very different to Azerbaijan where our car worked really well, as there are no low speed right-angle corners. It is a completely different track in every way.

“I am looking forward to i𓄧t and hope I can finish i♔n the points again.”