Tsunoda missed out on competing in his home grand prix in his rookie season last year owing to the cancellation of the race amid the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning Friday morning's opening practice session marked his first laps in anger of the famed figure-of-eight venue since he raced at Suzuka in Japanese F4 back in 2018.
The Japanese driver racked up the most laps of any drivers in the field across the two sessions, completing a total of 43 laps despite the treacherous conditions.
