Yuki Tsunoda never faced such clutch problem that he did in F1 Abu Dhabi GP, as Liam Lawson dreaded the moment the tyre wheel was lose after pit stop.
In the fight for sixth, that was exactly the start that Visa Cash App RB’s Tsunoda didn’t wish for in F1 Abu Dhabi GP. He potentially had a clutch trouble which stalled him on the start and he dropped places. He tried to recover and make up in the grand prix, but it wasn’t to be.
It was a weird issue, something that he hasn’t faced anytime in his career and it came at a time which wrecked his and the team’s race. “[I am] 99% sure that the clutch got stuck,” said Tsunoda to media. “In my last four years, any single race in my career, I never had anti-stall. I didn’t do anything wrong with the procedure.
“It became pretty clear that when I came into the pit lane and when I pulled the clutch, the gear didn’t go to neutral smoothly. So, something definitely going on there, didn’t receive a feedback from the team but pretty sure something happened there. It was still a tough race with one stop. I recovered pretty good, I feel like. Yeah, still something to definitely review afterwards for the race.
“Maybe it could have been better throughout the week, but we gave it our everything,” summed up Tsunoda, whose teammate Lawson did not enjoy a clean run either. He was fighting for the last points but a problem in pit stop forced him to another stop as the team ended up being fined too.
The left-right was loose when he left the pit which he realised immediately. Fortunately, it didn’t come off straight up and he was able to get back. The Kiwi felt he had the pace to score but things just didn’t go his way. In fact, he termed it as one of his best in the short career he’s had. “That sucked,” said Lawson to the gathered media.
“It’s always painful, especially when the speed is really good, so even though we were out of the points and a couple of laps down, we showed really good pace – similar to Gasly at the end of the race. It’s just one of those things. When I was driving out [I realised the wheel was loose]. Once I drove out and I came out of the tunnel, when I turned right to come out onto the track, I could see then that it was sparking and shaking.
“I reported it straightaway, yeah, it’s a shame. I need to review it properly but I saw the light go green and I went. I guess the wheel wasn’t on. Part of me was really hoping that it wouldn’t come off because I don’t know what I would have done then, so I just tried to pretend that it was all ok. It was on, the wheel was on, but it wasn’t all the way, so it was moving on the nut.
“To be perfectly honest, the race was probably one of the best races I’ve driven, even though we were two laps down. The speed was really strong and I gave it absolutely everything, as I have done in all of these sessions. I’m happy with the race in terms of performance, obviously, it just sucks that we couldn’t show it,” summed up Lawson.
Here’s race start: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2024-abu-dhabi-grand-prix-chaos-on-the-race-start-as-piastri-drops-to-last-after-contact-with-verstappen.1817878174133810865
Here’s Yuki Tsunoda on Red Bull test
Here’s Yuki Tsunoda speaking before the test
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