Sawt Falasteen - Tsunoda targets podium finish in Japan after 'unreal' Red Bull move

Tsunoda will race alongside four-time world champion Max Verstappen after Red Bull ruthlessly pulled the plug on underperforming New Zealander Lawson last week, just two races into the F1 season.

Tsunoda said it felt "unreal" to be driving for one of the top teams on the grid and set his sights on making an instant impact in front of the Japanese fans at Suzuka.

"I don't want to raise expectations too much but I want to finish on the podium at this Japanese Grand Prix," the 24-year-old said at an event with Red Bull partner Honda in Tokyo on Sunday.

Tsunoda steps up from Red Bull's junior team Racing Bulls (RB), with Lawson moving back down to RB, where he was last season.

Tsunoda said he did not expect to be racing for the team in Japan, after being passed over for Lawson when Mexico's Sergio Perez left Red Bull at the end of last season.

"It has all fallen into place and now I'm standing here, and that's thanks to the support of everyone," said Tsunoda.

Tsunoda has never finished on the podium in four full seasons in F1 but he has shown pace on both race weekends this year.

He was 12th in the season opener at Melbourne and only finished out of the points at Shanghai because of RB's flawed two-stop pit strategy.

Tsunoda urged Japanese fans to get behind him at Suzuka for his Red Bull grand prix debut.

"The thing that I'm looking forward to most is that there couldn't be a more pressurised, challenging situation than this," he said.

"It's also my debut, so with all these things added up I think it's going to be an unbelievably exciting race."

Lawson was knocked out at the first stage of all three qualifying sessions this season and has yet to score a point.

The New Zealander struggled to control the Red Bull but Tsunoda said he "didn't think it was that challenging a car to drive" after two days on a simulator.

"Everyone says the car is very responsive and I got that impression too, but it didn't seem to act in a strange, tricky manner," he said.

R.Halabi--SF-PST