Yuki Tsunoda was working contained in the factors with simply 12 laps remaining within the Spanish Grand Prix, and after keeping off a problem from Zhou Guanyu he crossed the road in Barcelona in ninth place.
However a five-second penalty handed down by race stewards noticed him drop from P9 to P12, denying the AlphaTauri driver his third factors end of the season, in addition to his greatest results of the yr.
Tsunoda blasted the choice following the Spanish Grand Prix, and it seems the break day has not cooled him down.
The penalty got here on account of an incident between Tsunoda and Zhou with 12 laps remaining. Zhou tried to cross Tsunoda on the surface at Flip 1, and Tsunoda tried to carry his line. Zhou ended up driving off the observe, and protested that he had been compelled off by Tsunoda.
Race stewards agreed, stating that Tsunoda “moved throughout to the surface of the nook,” forcing Zhou off the observe:
You may choose the incident for your self:
Talking after the race, Tsunoda blasted the choice as “harsh.”
“It was a ridiculous penalty and it feels actually unfair. That’s it,” stated Tsunoda. “I left him room and I really feel like he simply gave it up within the early levels and went outdoors. He received caught out and there was nonetheless area outdoors there. I gave strain however there was nonetheless area. I perceive why it was a penalty but it surely feels very harsh.”
In Thursday’s press conferences forward of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, Tsunoda once more expressed his frustration over the choice.
“I’m nonetheless upset with it however you can’t change something,” stated Tsunoda Thursday. “In the long run, that’s what the FIA determined and truly, we spoke this afternoon with the FIA and perceive their perspective. Aside from that, nothing to say.”
Nevertheless, don’t count on the AlphaTauri driver to make any modifications on the observe.
“I gained’t change any method, I’d say, to be trustworthy. In the long run I’ll attempt as a lot as attainable to defend it, throughout the restrict. I believed it was within the restrict and it was not – however ultimately, it was utilizing an excessive amount of and you can’t defend, so, clearly I’ll attempt to change a little bit bit higher,” he added. “There’s room that I can enhance in any scenario. I really feel, on the similar time, the same mindset to after the race, I felt fairly harsh, however ultimately it’s what it’s, and yeah, I simply have to just accept it.”
This week’s race in Montreal is Tsunoda’s second crack on the Canadian Grand Prix, and whereas he retired after 47 laps on account of an accident in final yr’s race, he nonetheless views it as a “turning level” for his F1 profession.
“Actually, I keep in mind the Canada race final yr was a little bit of a turning level in my understanding of the automotive. I struggled lots in free follow, however I used to be capable of come again a lot stronger within the race,” stated Tsunoda within the crew’s media preview. “Along with the engineers, we have been capable of perceive which route to take, to make each the automotive and me quicker. That stability setup we present in Montreal remains to be what we use now. The Sim final week confirmed that and I’m pleased with the work we did in fine-tuning the setup. I hope it really works out.”
We’ll discover out in just a few days whether or not it does or not.
