Yuki Tsunoda has accepted complete blame over the crash that spelt an abrupt end to his run in the second practice session at Formula 1‘s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Tsunoda was conducting a race simulation in the sole representative practice hour at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit when he wound up in the barriers at the last corner.
The Japanese driver glanced the inside wall at the turn that precedes the start-finish straight, leaving him powerless to avoid clattering the barrier situated on the exit.
Tsunoda was unhurt in the incident, but he was apologetic over the team radio as his shunt has granted the Red Bull mechanics an unwanted repair build to complete.
“Just turning too much and clipped the inside wall and just had damage,” Tsunoda pinpointed. “After that, just no control.
“Apologies to the team, things were looking good, so it’s a shame.”
Tsunoda encouraged by pace before crash
Tsunoda came into the weekend – his third with Red Bull – contending that he can match team-mate Max Verstappen once he is more accustomed to the team’s RB21.
The long-time Racing Bulls driver was experiencing a productive outing prior to his crash as he resided sixth on the timesheets, four tenths behind Verstappen in third.
“The qualifying lap was pretty good. I was a bit compromised with the [tyre] warm-up, but so far pretty okay,” he added.
“I had a limited time on the long run which I caused by myself, so I can’t really complain. It’s not definitely not how I wanted to end up, that’s for sure.
“The short runs are okay, I just compromised a bit with the warm-up, so there’s a bit more [lap time] there.”
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