Yuki Tsunoda says he felt a “big improv✤ement” from Honda’s new power unit as he made his Formula 1 testing bow for AlphaTauri in Bahrain.

The 20-year-old Japanese driver completed 37 laps behind the wheel of AlphaTauri’s new ꦆAT02 challenger in the afternoon of the opening day of running in Bahrain as he made his pre-season testing debut.

Getting some much-needed mileage ahead of hi🃏s rookie F1 season, Tsunoda finished the day one place and less than half a second behind teammate Pierre Gasly in🐼 ninth place, despite having to content with a sandstorm.

“It was really exciting,” said Tsunoda. “I enjoyed it from the beginning to the end, especially the tricky conditions at the beginning of the session. Really sandy,♑ and less grip. But for a debut in Formula 1, it was really good for controlling the car a lot to feel the limit of the downforce, so I enjoyed that.

“At the end, I had a🌠 bit of an issue, a bit of a fuel thing I think it was. I just drove 37 laps and my lap time൲ was the lap time I did first with the hard tyre.

"So not the top potential, but it was a good test, and with the issue, it’s always good to have it in testing, not in the real race. So a good sta🦋rt.”

And Tsunoda hailed a noticeable gain from Honda’💫s brand new power unit intr✅oduced for the upcoming 2021 season.

“The PU, the engine, had a big improvement,” he explainedꦡ. “Quite a good improvement compared to AT01, so I think🍸 we had a good start.

“I also think for the steering, we have a good step,” Tsunoda added, “and I have more confidence to drive into the corners. For me, it’s ♉a really good, positive 🌳thing.”

Asked what his targets are for his debut F1 campaign, Tsunoda replied: “I don’t know what’s going 𝕴to hap🀅pen in the races, how the physical [aspect] is going to be, how the tyre degradation is going to be in Formula 1. So I’ll just push hard from the beginning.

“Maybe I will do mistakes, and some silly things,” he added, “but I’m not afraid about that, because to learn the limit, you have♉ to do mistakes. So just push hard and try to get as much as possible in the points and just do my best.”