After a first practice session that saw Tsunoda a little over a tenth behind Verstappen — with the sixth-fastest lap of the session behind the fifth-fastest posted by Verstappen — Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner confirmed the “rules of engagement” between the two drivers.

Red Bulls Yuki Tsunoda was just one tenth behind Max Verstappen in the most representative practice session on Friday in Japan but was not fully satisfied; watch final practice on Saturday from 3.30am before qualifying at 7am,

Tsunoda, 24, has shown good speed in his Racing Bulls car so far and lost out on a points-scoring finish when he had to pit because of a front wing issue late in the Chinese Grand Prix. But don’t expect that speed to translate to race-winning speed in Japan. Tsunoda is +4000 to win the race at BetMGM and is the No. 7 favorite.