Tsunoda owns up to FP2 crash: ‘It’s a shame’

Yuki Tsunoda owned up to his costly mistake in Friday’s second practice at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after the Red Bull driver brought an early end to his run with a crash at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

The incident saw the Japanese driver clip the inside wall of Jeddah’s final corner which broke his car’s steering arm and subsequently pitched the RB21 into the outside barrier, which inflicted significant damage to the car.

Tsunoda was in the midst of a race simulation when the mishap occurred.

“Just turning too much and clipped the inside wall and just had damage. After that, just no control,” he explained, reflecting on the incident

Though unhurt, Tsunoda was quick to express remorse over the team radio, stating, “Apologies to the team, things were looking good, so it’s a shame.”

• Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Free Practice 2 - Results

Indeed, prior to the crash, Tsunoda had been showcasing his potential, sitting sixth on the timesheets, just four tenths off teammate Max Verstappen’s third-place time.

The 24-year-old, who is enjoying in Jeddah his third weekend with Red Bull Racing, had been optimistic about making strides and bridging his performance gap to Verstappen.

“The qualifying lap was pretty good,” he commented. “I was a bit compromised with the [tyre] warm-up, but so far pretty okay.”

Unfortunately, Tsunoda’s crash has limited his long-run data.

“I had a limited time on the long run which I caused by myself, so I can’t really complain. It’s not definitely not how I wanted to end up, that’s for sure,” he concluded.