RB’s Yuki Tsunoda fears that the damage suffered by his VCARB 01 following his heavy crash in qualifying in Hungary might result in a grid penalty or a pitlane start on Sunday.
The Japanese driver navigated his way with ease through the first two segments of qualifying despite the changing conditions.
But on his final flyer in Q3, Tsunoda went wide on the exit of the Hungaroring’s Turn 5 venturing onto the newly-installed grass strip meant to deter track limit violations.
However, his car appeared to be launched into the air upon hitting the seam between the grass strip and the asphalt, sending him into the outside barrier and causing severe damage to his machine.
“I didn’t expect it,” commented Tsunoda after qualifying. “I just ran wide there.
“I was comfortably within the track. I was on the limit, obviously, in Q3. Half of the tyre went on the grass, but with that kind of thing, it normally happens probably because it was wet, which kind of exaggerated it and I went wide.
“Until that corner – even turn five – that lap was great. So it’s a big shame.”
Tsunoda was ultimately classified tenth, one position behind his RB teammate Daniel Ricciardo who was the only driver to improve his time when the session resumed after a lengthy red flag period.
While the 24-year-old lamented his mistake, his chef concern was the state of his car.
“To be honest, I’m more worried about the car rather than my body,” Tsunoda said. “So to be honest. Very big shame. I’m disappointed.
“I hope my car is good. Obviously I feel bad for the team. That lap was enough to probably be in a very good position.”
RB head of vehicle performance Guillaume Dezoteux said that a heavy workload awaited the Faenza-based outfit’s mechanics, but the Frenchman appeared confident that Tsunoda would be spared a pitlane start on Sunday.
“His lap was looking very strong up to that point, so it's disappointing but luckily, he's okay,” he said.
“There is a lot of work ahead for the mechanics, but we are confident we will get the car ready for the race tomorrow.”
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