Yuki Tsunoda has recalled his tense journey home with AlphaTauri Team Principal Franz Tost, following a collision with his team mate Pierre Gasly at last year’s British Grand Prix.
Both AlphaTauris were running in P7 and P8 when Tsunoda lost the rear of his AT03 at Turn 3, hitting teammate Gasly in the process and forcing the pair to perform a synchronised double pirouette into the run off area.
Tsunoda was given a five-second time penalty for the incident while Gasly would later be forced into retirement.
To make matters worse, after the race, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was presented with the loose part of the sister team’s car that had wedged itself into the floor of his RB18 and ruined his British GP.
After being able to recover to finish the race in P14, Tsunoda recalled the prospect of having to face team-principal Tost in the post-race debrief, but the Japanese driver told the Beyond the Grid podcast that while being disappointed, there was no conflict between the pair.
“He didn’t punch me of course!” Tsunoda said.
“The voice was definitely higher than usual. First of all he said to me, when I was in the engineer room, ‘Yuki, come to my office. Why did you do such a stupid thing?’ Which I agree. It was so disappointing”
But Tsunoda revealed that the pair were forced to endure a tense journey home as they found that they were sharing the car ride to the airport and spending the flight back to Italy sitting next to each other.
“Unfortunately, on the way back to Italy, we were on the same flight and we were sitting next to each other!
“I still remember that also to the airport from Silverstone it was the same car.
“Actually a lot of traffic just before the [circuit] entrance so it was such a long, long journey than the usual from Silversone and after causing such a bad thing for the team and still in the same car!”
These are definitely the things I want to forget. But they are things I have to remember for the future to improve myself.”
Tsunoda went on to say that he has a good relationship with Tost and that the pair even share conversations about racing thanks to Tost’s early racing career of eleven Formula 3 Germany starts and winning the 1983 Austrian Formula Ford Championship.
