“I want to be on the podium or win a race” - Alpha Tauri rookie Tsunoda

Alpha Tauri's rookie driver Yuki Tsunoda said he is aiming to be on the podium or win a race in Formula 1 on Wednesday, speaking ahead of his F1 debut.

Tsunoda starred in his Alpha Tauri in the final session of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on Sunday, as he claimed second place in a time of 1 minute 29.053 seconds, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen third and fourth-fastest respectively.

He will become the first Japanese driver to compete in F1 in seven years.

The last Japanese driver in F1 was Kamui Kobayashi, who raced for Toyota, Sauber and Caterham before leaving at the end of the 2014 season.