Tsunoda blasts 10s penalty – Stroll says move was 'desperate'

Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll were predictably at odds with each other over who was responsible for a clash in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix for which both drivers paid a price.

The tussle occurred on lap 4 when Tsunoda - the only driver to start his race on the soft compound tyre - made a move up the inside of Stroll at the first corner.

But contact ensued between the two cars, with the AlphaTauri driver forced to put for a new front wing while Stroll was able to continue despite suffering floor damage only to retire later in the day.

"Car 22 was slipstreaming car 18 along the front straight and was considerably faster on the inside at turn one," read the stewards' report. "However, he braked too late and collided with car 18 in this optimistic manoeuvre. The Stewards find him wholly at fault."

Tsunoda was thus handed a 10-second penalty and two penalty points on his licence, but the Japanese driver was visibly unhappy with the stewards' call.

"He was not looking at all [at] the back mirror, he just drove a normal line," argued Tsunoda. "It was a risky move but I didn’t have any lock-up in the first but, then had a little bit of lock-up as I realised he was not looking at all.

"It’s a shame, the move was there. Ten-second penalty is absolutely, I mean… okay, five-seconds [would] still be harsh, but 10 seconds is really ridiculous for me.

"But it is what it is and I have to improve next time."

• Sao Paulo GP: Sunday's action in pictures

Despite the contact and floor damage to his Aston Martin, Stroll had managed to put himself just outside the top ten. But with his car continuing to shed bodywork, the Canadian was eventually called in to retire.

"It was just getting worse, started off with like 25 points [of downforce loss], then 45 points and pieces were just falling off the car and we were just going backwards," Stroll explained.

"He [Tsunoda] started on softs, he’s got a really quick car, in the first couple of laps he was going to be super quick, I think he’s off the pace and was super desperate to make a move and was just too far back.

"I don’t know what he was doing, I guess he was just desperate and way too optimistic."

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