Yuki Tsunoda "not throwing something away" regardless of penalty-filled Brazil GP

Yuki Tsunoda insisted he’s not throwing something away after one other powerful race weekend on the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Whereas his Crimson Bull team-mate Max Verstappen put in an unbelievable drive from a pitlane begin to a podium end in P3, Tsunoda struggled with two penalties and completed seventeenth.

Along with his grand prix struggles, the Japanese driver was knocked out within the first spherical of qualifying for each the grand prix and dash race, ending the dash in thirteenth.

“The entire weekend has been a troublesome one for myself,” Tsunoda defined within the Crimson Bull debrief. “We tried a lot of issues as a workforce, some which labored and others that did not. I had a great begin to the race on the arduous tyre and made up a few positions earlier than utilizing the protection automotive to pit early.

“Sadly, there was contact with Lance and I needed to serve a penalty which made it actually difficult to have a optimistic outcome at the moment, the additional pitstop additionally harm us. I am not throwing something away, and within the final stint I confirmed good tempo. I am going to proceed to do what I can to maximise from right here till the tip of the season. Credit score to Max additionally, it was an unbelievable drive from him and he scored some nice factors for the workforce within the constructors’.”

Crimson Bull workforce principal Laurent Mekies added: “With Yuki, he misplaced lots of time at the moment along with his 10-second penalty after which we made a mistake on our facet and incurred one other. So, it’s a disgrace that it would not appear to be going our approach with Yuki.

“His final stint was robust and when you eliminated these two penalties, he would have ended up combating for factors. We might be wishing to have a barely quieter weekend in Vegas however with everybody’s assist once more at observe and again residence on Campus, we might be able to combat regardless of the circumstances.”

Yuki Tsunoda, Crimson Bull Racing Crew

Picture by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Pictures through Getty Pictures

Why was Yuki Tsunoda penalised through the 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix?

Tsunoda was first handed a 10-second penalty and two penalty factors for a collision with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

“On lap 6, Automobile 22 (TSU) approached Flip 8 carrying far more pace than the vehicles forward, closed up on the within behind Automobile 18 (STR), and made contact with the rear of that automotive, inflicting a collision and forcing Automobile 18 right into a spin,” the stewards defined.

“The Stewards decide that Automobile 22 was wholly accountable for the incident, and the usual penalty for inflicting a collision was utilized.”

The Crimson Bull driver was then handed an additional 10-second penalty for failing to serve the primary penalty correctly.

“The Stewards reviewed video proof which confirmed that Automobile 22 entered the pit lane to serve a 10-second time penalty. Whereas the automotive was stationary for the aim of serving the penalty, a mechanic instantly started engaged on the automotive by loosening the left rear wheel nut with a wheel gun earlier than the ten seconds had elapsed,” the stewards famous.

“Beneath Article 54.4 c) of the FIA Components One Sporting Rules, no work could also be carried out on a automotive whereas a time penalty is being served. For the avoidance of doubt, any bodily contact with the automotive, whether or not by hand, instrument or gear, constitutes “working” on the automotive.

“Because the mechanic initiated work earlier than the expiry of the penalty interval, the penalty was not served accurately. The Stewards subsequently impose an extra 10-second time penalty.”

Pictures from Sao Paulo GP – Race

Lando Norris, McLaren