Yuki Tsunoda felt the extent of penalty in F1 British GP was harsh, as he stresses on high degradation, while Laurent Mekies makes official Red Bull appearance.
It was another tough run for Red Bull’s Tsunoda in F1 British GP at Silverstone. He looked touched better in qualifying where he missed Q3 due to engine issue during his Q2 run. Even though he is two steps behind on the updates that Max Verstappen is running, he was in a good spot in the short run.
But the race was a different ball game. Not only he suffered with the rear wing that Red Bull ran, his long run issue of high degradation hit him on the intermediate compound as well, like it has ailed him in the last few rounds on dry tyres. He never got going despite lucky conditions.
On top of it, he had a tangle with Oliver Bearman, which resulted in a 10s time penalty, which he felt was harsh in terms of the amount he got as opposed to 5s and less penalty points on F1 license. “I deserve the penalty, but 10 seconds, obviously last year, it was probably five seconds,” said Tsunoda to media. “Apparently, they didn’t make any exemptions, it is what it is, yeah. I was already pretty annoyed with the pace, but it is just very harsh to be honest.
“10 seconds felt like two days, but they gave it, and they have not been nice to me recently with these penalty points and overtaking a damaged car [of Piastri in Montreal]. But I am just really focused more towards performance now anyway,” summed up Tsunoda, who rued the high degradation situation, which he hopes will be better in Spa-Francorchamps.
He is to get the updates but he will have his work cut out due to the sprint event. “It was crazy, the long run…the intermediate, I had good confidence with the condition, last time in Montreal we had a strong weekend, I mean the pace was okay but the thing is, somehow we are degging like crazy, it is the same thing in dry conditions as well,” continued Tsunoda. “The long run is where I am really struggling. In terms of qualifying, without the engine issue, I was going to be in Q3 but like I said, we two steps older overall package, the difference between me and Max in Q2 was four tenths which is quite well.
“At least in short run, I am going in the right direction, I am happy with it, just the long run is something to look up. At least I’m going to have upgrades next weekend. I think I’m currently two steps behind in terms of package compared to Max, so that will for sure help for next race. At the same time, it’s going to be a Sprint weekend, so it’s the only time I can adjust with that, you know. Floor will be my pre-practice, but I’ll do my best,” summed up Tsunoda.
The Japanese was likely had extra time in the RB21 at Silverstone on Thursday as part of the Testing Previous Cars programme. It is not clear if Tsunoda was the one testing or they had the likes of Ayumu Iwasa and Arvid Lindblad too. But the major talking point was the visit from Mekies.
After the announcement of Christian Horner being dropped and replaced by Mekies, the Frenchman didn’t waste time to visit Milton Keynes and also trackside at Silverstone to start his immersing process with the F1 team. “I look at this Team as most outside look at them, we see the very best people in the world at what they do,” he said.
“That’s what this Team is, even from being a competitor previously you look at Red Bull Racing as being the sharpest team, having managed to accumulate the best talent to work together. It is a privilege to join the Team and the focus will be on making sure all the talented people here have what they need to perform at their best, because they are already the very best.
“We will be focussing on that and making sure the Red Bull energy is flowing through the Team. We are not underestimating the challenge ahead, we will need everybody and we will go about it together and I am sure with everyone’s contributions we will tackle this challenge.”
Here’s Christian Horner with his message
Here’s news on Christian Horner
Here’s Max Verstappen on British GP