Yuki Tsunoda returned to the seat of a System 1 automotive over the weekend for an indication run, however it took a flip for the more severe when the automotive burst into flames.
The Japanese driver took half in a present run in San Francisco alongside former F1 and rallycross driver Scott Velocity, Ford off-road racer Mitch Guthrie and freestyle motocross rider Aaron Colton.
On the wheel of Crimson Bull’s double-title-winning 2011 RB7, Tsunoda entertained the group with doughnuts on Marina Boulevard earlier than the rear of the automotive erupted into flames. Followers shouted on the 25-year-old to get out of the automotive, which he did safely earlier than marshals labored to place out the hearth.
“Once you don’t like that you just had been demoted to order driver and torch the automotive,” one fan joked on X, whereas one other added: “Yuki Tsunoda’s Crimson Bull turned San Francisco into an actual hearth present. Smoke, flames and a crowd that got here for the demo however bought a pyrotechnic shock as a substitute. Who stated System 1 wasn’t excessive sufficient?”
Tsunoda was moved right into a check and reserve driver position for 2026 after shedding his full-time Crimson Bull seat to Isack Hadjar on the finish of 2025. “Clearly, I’m disenchanted, and p***ed off,” Tsunoda informed the media in Abu Dhabi final yr. “How I used to be informed was proper after the race [in Qatar], from Helmut, privately, that I’m not racing subsequent yr. Surprisingly, I’m OK. Not OK, like, I’m surviving OK. The morning after, I ordered breakfast as typical, the identical meals.
“In all probability, I’m not recognising sufficient will probably be the final race for this yr, for subsequent yr. Possibly I’ll really feel extra after Abu Dhabi. However that’s the way it went and the way I really feel now.”
The 2026 F1 season will start with the Australian Grand Prix from 6-8 March at Albert Park in Melbourne.
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