Yuki Tsunoda has reflected on his dramatic Q1 crash that has severely hindered his weekend in Imola.
On his first lap of Q1, Yuki Tsunoda lost control of his RB21 at the Villeneuve chicane. His car spun, and hit the barrier with considerable force. His Red Bull flipped over, touching the catch fencing, coming to rest the correct side up, the car now wrecked.
Tsunoda thankfully walked away from the incident. He is likely to start from the pit-lane for the race on Sunday.
Speaking to media after the session, the Japanese driver bluntly blamed the incident firmly on himself.
“I’m just really stupid for myself, pushing like that. I mean, unnecessarily hard and made a lot of change to the car, so, you know, especially, you know, pushing, pushing like that hard without understanding enough about the car and this.
I”‘m just very unnecessary, pushing like that hard in the early stages.”
Honest thoughts of Imola crash and future performances
Reflecting on his first thoughts and emotions after the crash, Tsunoda delivered a blunt assessment, admitting he did not speak to his team at first.
“The first thing I thought was just very ashamed, disappointed, frustrated.
“I haven’t talked with them yet, but just the only thing I can do is apologise to them and just really, yeah. So I hope the car is not, obviously, had a big damage, so, I mean, mechanics have to do lots of work to do it tomorrow.
“And hopefully their car will be ready until tomorrow, but it’s very unnecessary for them.Ah, for me, for myself, putting them in the wrong situation”.
Asked if he believes he can achieve more Q3 appearances, Yuki Tsunoda was optimistic.
“At least I could, I mean, turn two, three, it felt quite good. Obviously, made a lot of changes to the car. But, I mean, the pace was there until yesterday, just like B3, it must be nowhere, but it’s a big history.
Tsunoda not feeling pressure on his seat after Imola qualifying crash
Tsunoda was quick to dismiss suggestions that the crash was a result of pressure on his shoulders to perform. He said he had to stop trying to be a hero during qualifying.
“I don’t think so, I mean, I think the team is supporting me enough to take off pressure as much as possible.
“I’m just trying to be a hero from Q1, which has been unnecessary. Aiming too much, aiming, I would say, myself to pass the Q1 with just one set.
“Also, I mean, I made a lot of changes to the car.You don’t know much about the car, how the car is going to react, everything high speed, medium speed, slow speed.
“And like that kind of corner, you need to build up, especially massive change. I mean, I had confidence that I can handle it, but at the same time, yeah, it’s just a thing that, to be honest, is just kind of really excuse.
“But it’s just an experience in the car and just car changes and how the car reacts is a bit unexpected. But I know what kind of reason that caused that kind of, I would say, balance into the corner.
“I’ve been five years in Formula 1, so I mean, crashing Q1 is such a long time, obviously. But how I did it is, yeah, obviously, it’s not unacceptable.“
