Revealing that his father is a fan of Fernando Alonso, rookie Yuki Tsunoda admits to feeling emotional when he overtook the two-time world champion on Sunday.

On a day one rookie sent the nasty side of social media wild with delight, another served notice of his arrival and his determination to be up there with the big boys.

Having impressed almost from the moment he took to the track in pre-season testing, Yuki Tsunoda continued to establish his reputation throughout the Bahrain weekend.

One of the highlights had to be the youngster's mid-race pass on Fernando Alonso, the AlphaTauri driver out-braking the two-time world champion into Turn 1 after coming from quite a way back - albeit with the benefit of DRS. A similar move later in the race on Lance Stroll was enough for the Japanese driver to claim ninth on his debut, the first rookie to score points on his debut since Stoffel Vandoorne for McLaren in 2016.

Speaking after the race, the youngster revealed that his father is a fan of Alonso, and consequently as he passed the Spaniard to take eleventh he felt emotional.

"It was a bit emotional when I passed Fernando," he said. "Last time I saw him, twelve or thirteen years ago, I was seven or eight years old.

"So, into Turn 1, I just trusted Fernando's skills and just launched it... you know, like a rookie.

"I felt a bit sorry about it, but I just launched it from pretty far away, so there were a few emotional things. Of course it's not the same car but I was happy for that.

"My father is quite a big Fernando fan," he added, "especially his driving style. My father likes his driving. The first time my dad saw Fernando was at Suzuka and he said his acceleration from the last corner is the best of any driver on the grid. So, of course, I also followed Fernando."

Indeed, Tsunoda admits that he learned from the Spaniard after following him for several laps.

"I drove with him a couple of laps and I learned from him how he managed the tyres on the corners, how he was driving every corner.

"After I passed him, I tried to copy his driving and in a couple of corners were better from my car as well.

"Hopefully I don't have to drive against him the next time, I want to be further ahead to start.

"I don't want to say that Fernando is bad, but the car situation is different," he added, keen to clarify his comment.

“The things I learned from him were really big for the future.”

F1 MD, Ross Brawn admits to being very impressed with the youngster. "He showed some brilliant spells in the race," said the Briton in his post-race debrief for the official F1 site, "which is encouraging considering it was his first F1 race.

"He is the best rookie F1 has had for years," he added, "having been fairly stunning in whatever series he has competed in.

"His promotion by Red Bull looks like a brilliant move. We can all remember the glorious days of full grandstands at Suzuka and the passion of the Japanese fans. I think we are going to have that again, which is incredibly exciting."