AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda returned to the points for the first time since Baku thanks to a solid drive to P10 in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, one that was built in large part on a strong first stint.
Tsunoda launched his race from eleventh on the grid, but the Japanese driver was on a charge from the outset, swiftly progressing up to sixth in the first five laps of the race.
AlphaTauri opted to pit Tsunoda for a second set of Mediums after just 9 laps, but he maintained his position among the top 10 and closed out the first half of the field at the checkered flag – sandwiched between Aston's Lance Stroll and Alpine's Pierre Gasly – after a final stint on the soft tyre.
"The start was good, and in the first stint, we were flying," Tsunoda said.
"The first stint was key to scoring points as Alpine was still much faster than us, and the Aston Martin was very fast.
"We also had a bit of luck with cars ahead retiring, but we were still able to finish P10, which was good.
"I'm really happy, the team did a fantastic job."
Tsunoda, who endured a challenging qualifying on Friday given the changing conditions, was particularly satisfied to have extracted the most from his AT04.
"We were able to maximise the car's performance today. In the last couple of races, I have struggled a lot and [Saturday] was a really horrible day, so I am definitely happy.
"It is a positive way to head into the summer break."
AlphaTauri technical director Jody Egginton was praiseful of Tsundoa's tyre management on every stint of the race at Spa.
"Yuki ran a strong race, making really good use of each of his tyre sets to keep his car in the top 10," he said. "The fight for points was on merit pretty much all race long, so he should be pleased."
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
