Racing Bulls boss Laurent Mekies apologised to Yuki Tsunoda after a strategy blunder cost the Japanese driver vital points in the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
Tsunoda qualified an impressive fifth at the Albert Park Circuit and spent the majority of Sunday’s race in Melbourne running inside the top six.
After conditions dried mid-race, a Lap 44 shower prompted several runners, including race victor Lando Norris to immediately pit for Intermediate tyres.
This call was also made by Tsunoda and Racing Bulls’ midfield rival, Alex Albon of Williams.
Meanwhile, Tsunoda was among the drivers that hedged their bets on conditions drying quickly, to no avail and after making the call late to switch to Intermediates, Tsunoda found a potential top-five finish slipping from his grasp and came away with nothing.
It was particularly cruel for Racing Bulls as Albon went on to score 10 points for Williams while Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg picked up eight and six points for Aston Martin and Sauber respectively.
Mekies rues the ‘harshness of motorsport’
Reflecting post-race, Mekies ruled that the team’s strategy gamble didn’t pay off, holding his hands up to the Racing Bulls’ mistake.
“Yuki was performing very strongly until the rain returned,” he said.
“There is nowhere to hide, we got our last call wrong, and it cost us very dearly today.
“For this we apologise to Yuki; the gamble to keep him out didn’t pay off but it’s part of the harshness of motorsport.
“There is only one way to improve, by working harder together as a team and to come back stronger.”
Tsunoda was clearly disappointed to have lost such a strong result after performing at the top of his game all weekend.
“It’s definitely something we have to discuss between the team, but it’s a shame that until then we were fighting very strong and we almost scored massive points for this weekend, so yeah, very disappointed,” he told select media including Motorsport Week post-race.
“One lap, I was in Sector 1 and rain wasn’t there, but the lap after it was.
“But with a dry tyre there was almost nothing I could do. Those things, you know, I can’t see it, so definitely something to learn for the future as a team and yeah, we have to come back strong.”
Tsunoda puts emphasis on bouncing back in China
With Isack Hadjar’s heartbreaking formation lap exit also marking a painful end to his promising weekend, Racing Bulls has a lot of motivation to bounce back in China this weekend.
After the team’s rivals picked up big points, Tsunoda stressed the importance of garnering a good result in Shanghai.
“We have to [perform in China], I mean, now William scored a P5, which is very frustrating,” he said.
“But a positive thing is we got a good pace that was a bit unexpected, so we have to definitely revise what was the reason why we able to perform well and we just have to consistently perform like I had in qualifying this weekend.”
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