Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon discuss their Lap 1 tangle in F1 French GP, which cost the Japanese driver heavy than the Frenchman.
For Tsunoda, it was a mixed weekend F1 French GP weekend. A very impressive run to Q3 saw him start from row 4 but not long after the race start a clash with Alpine’s Ocon saw him spin out and retire later in the event.
It was a clumsy move from both Tsunoda and Ocon, but the loss was on the Japanese’s racer’s part which ended his race. Even though the Frenchman was handed a time penalty, he still made it in the Top 10 to score handy points for Alpine.
“I got quite a lot of damage early on and it just kept getting worse with each lap,” said Tsunoda. “I watched back the onboard and I definitely left enough space, but he lost control. It ruined our whole race and 5 seconds is not enough in the end, when he continued with no damage, even getting some points”.
“I know in racing these things happen, but it is such a shame especially after such a good Qualifying, and I feel bad for the team, also everyone back at the factory, to have it end like this after all the work they’ve done. We didn’t score any points after such a big upgrade, but at the same time I think I did the best I could this week”.
“Even though Quali was good, the race is where points are scored in the end, so it was unfortunate. Top 8 could have been possible, but it is what it is, and we will definitely be back stronger and better in Hungary. We have a good car, so we stay positive,” summed up Tsunoda.
Despite the race result and he being the first retirement of the Grand Prix, he remains upbeat and can take a lot of lot of confidence from his qualifying performance. For Alpine’s Ocon, who was involved in the first lap incident with him, it was a great run to eighth following what had been an arduous practice and qualifying for him at a race where of course he would always want to perform best.
“It’s been a good race definitely,” said Ocon. “It’s a bit unfortunate the incident with Yuki because probably we could have fight with Lando towards the end of the race. But I mean other than that, it is good to score points with both cars”.
“I think we overtake McLaren obviously in the Constructors championship which is quite good and on a weekend where it was not the best weekend on our side, I think we can be happy it has how it’s gone,” summed up Ocon.
Almost a year after that race which saw so much drama and Ocon take his debut victory, helped to a degree by team-mate Fernando Alonso’s battle with Lewis Hamilton, he will be hoping for another stirring performance. For Tsunoda, who was at that stage a driver under pressure, he too achieved a career best result (at that point) and both men will be looking to garner more points for themselves and their respective teams also.
Here’s collision between Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-french-grand-prix-tsunoda-spins-in-clash-with-ocon-on-lap-1.1739240662349232005.html
Here’s how F1 French GP panned out