Yuki Tsunoda didn’t realise that he hit Lance Stroll in F1 Brazil GP, as last stint pace praised by Laurent Mekies mid multiple penalties that derailed race.
It started off rather okay for Red Bull’s Tsunoda in F1 Brazil GP as he ran close to the points places after early Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car periods. But his grand prix took a turn when he was involved in a minor incident against Aston Martin’s Stroll, where he spun him around.
It wasn’t shown live at the moment, but as a replays where a minor touch at the back while jostling for positions with another car also in it. Tsunoda was eventually handed a 10s time penalty which he served under the pit stop. But it wasn’t served correctly by the pit crew.
It resulted in another 10s time penalty, which eventually set his race and dropped him to the back of the field by a good margin. Talking about the incident, Tsunoda didn’t even realise that they made contact, which eventually cost him dearly. “I think I had some damage,” he said to media.
“But it was not so big, I would say, and to be honest, I didn’t notice the contact. Maybe I was just far off, I don’t know. Yeah, shame about contact. After that, I think the pace was okay, especially the last stint. But I was completely out of position. It’s a shame. I don’t know, I have to review what happened [in the contact] because like I said, I didn’t even notice the contact.
“The pace was okay in this race, just shame about the penalties and the extra pit stop, it was not in my control. It is shame because something worked well but at the same time, something didn’t worked. For me, it is this weekend nothing really worked at all,” summed up Tsunoda, as the Japanese suffered again especially in the crucial period when his future is up in the air.
There was praise from team boss Mekies regarding his late race pace but the Frenchman cautioned that eventually results is what matters, no matter the hiccups whether by the driver or the team. “He had a good start,” he said to media. “He was on a similar track actually after the safety car. And then the incident with Lance Stroll, yeah of course, it’s a bit unfortunate. He lost a lot of time in that contact and got the extra 10 seconds penalties. We made a mistake on our side.
“We got another 10 seconds extra penalty. So it’s a shame, it doesn’t seem to be going our way. His last stint in clean air was strong. You can do it yourself if you take the race plot and remove these two times 10 seconds. You actually end up in a decent fight for points. But again it’s the same thing, ‘would and should’ doesn’t win races. So we can only pocket the last strong stint in free air that he has done.”
Here’s the moment for Yuki Tsunoda: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-sao-paulo-grand-prix-tsunoda-picks-up-penalty-for-tipping-stroll-into-a-spin.1848336742792878175
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