TOKYO – Japanese Formula One driver Yuki Tsunoda secured a strong sixth place at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, his highest race finish since switching to the Red Bull team early in the season.

After having his best qualifying performance for the team on Saturday, Tsunoda fought for a top-five position throughout the race around the Baku City Circuit but ultimately finished sixth, some 33 seconds behind his teammate and race winner Max Verstappen.

George Russell finished second for Mercedes and Carlos Sainz third, securing Williams’ first full-race podium in eight years and his first with the team.

“I am happy with it, especially the pace I showed today is a lot different to other race weeks,” Tsunoda said.

“I got supported a lot from the team…and also the efforts I put over the weeks definitely show some improvement there.”

The 25-year-old Japanese has suffered through a turbulent season in which he has been well off the pace of his four-time world champion teammate Verstappen.

His struggles have led to speculation that he will lose his seat at Red Bull at the end of the season, ramping up the pressure for him to perform in each of the seven remaining races this year.

“I came into Baku having put in a lot of hard work offtrack to extract as much performance as possible and today was a step in the right direction,” Tsunoda said.

“I feel like I have unlocked something that I can take into future races.”