Yuki Tsunoda was left frustrated after the penalty he received in F1 Spanish GP and reckoned Zhou Guanyu went off on purpose.
AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda was in the thick of things in F1 Spanish GP. Initially, he was in a fight against Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and Alfa Romeo’s Gunayu, but later on he got involved in one-on-one fight against the Chinese racer for points position.
Guanyu tried a move in Turn 1 but Tsunoda moved slightly which put off the Chinese driver as he had to take an evasive action and go off circuit at Turn 1-2-3 to rejoin. He complained about the move and the stewards eventually investigated the matter.
Not long and much to everyone’s surprise, Tsunoda was handed a 5s time penalty which dropped him to 12th in the order from ninth. Naturally, the Japanese driver was furious and reckoned that Guanyu moved off pretending of showing no space.
“It was a ridiculous penalty and it feels really unfair,” said Tsunoda to media. “When I saw Zhou, I left the room and I feel like he just gave up in the early stages. He went outside and pretended like he got forced out, but he didn’t. Definitely, there was still space outside.
“Obviously I gave him pressure but there’s still space, so I don’t understand why it was a penalty. It feels really unfair, really harsh. I just heard and after chequered flag, which I was really happy. But after that radio, I was really disappointed.
“At the same time, I am a bit curious… It is good to have a bit of discussion with the FIA because they give five seconds without any discussion and the race is over. So, it feels unfair… I feel exhausted, flat,” summed up Tsunoda.
While the Japanese driver was naturally agitated, Guanyu felt nothing wrong with the penalty and he reckoned Tsunoda deserved it. “It was very straightforward,” he said. “I was ahead before braking into Turn 1 and then mid-corner, I was actually giving a lot of space. Then I just saw him and he wasn’t stopping.
“He tried to release the brakes but he ran me off, which I had to take avoiding action and use the escape road, otherwise we would be crashing together. So, that was tricky after that because I had so much rubbish on my tyre. But then, in the end, I was able to keep behind him in the right position and get the position back,” summed up Guanyu.
Here’s the moment when Zhou Guanyu went off when fighting Yuki Tsunoda: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2023-spanish-grand-prix-the-battle-with-zhou-that-earned-tsunoda-a-late-penalty-in-barcelona.1767786143998221608.html
Here’s how F1 Spanish GP panned out