Jonas Leo
The Interlagos circuit, renowned for its unpredictable nature and dramatic races, delivered another incident-filled affair at the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix, where AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda found himself at the center of a perplexing collision that ultimately derailed his race. The Japanese racer, visibly surprised in the post-race media pen, stated he "didn’t even notice" the contact that sent Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll into a spin, an incident that triggered a cascade of penalties and relegated Tsunoda to the back of the field.
The crucial moment unfolded on lap six, shortly after a safety car restart. Following an earlier incident that necessitated the safety car period, the pack was tightly bunched, and racing resumed with drivers jostling for position. Tsunoda, positioned 16th, was navigating the challenging Ferradura corner. He found himself closely following Alpine’s Franco Colapinto. In an attempt to overtake or maintain position, Tsunoda braked significantly later than the car ahead. This aggressive maneuver forced him to swerve sharply to avoid colliding with Colapinto’s Alpine. It was during this evasive action that Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri made contact with Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, sending the Canadian driver spinning. Stroll, a seasoned competitor who had shown flashes of pace throughout the weekend, was left to recover from the incident, which severely compromised his own race.
The stewards quickly reviewed the incident and deemed Tsunoda at fault for causing a collision, issuing him a 10-second time penalty. This penalty, intended to be served during his next pit stop, proved to be a harbinger of further misfortune for the AlphaTauri team. In an unfortunate turn of events, the Red Bull-backed squad failed to serve the penalty correctly during Tsunoda’s subsequent stop, leading to a further investigation and an additional 10-second penalty. This double blow effectively extinguished any hopes Tsunoda had of salvaging a respectable result from a weekend that had already presented significant challenges.
Speaking to reporters after the race, Tsunoda’s bewilderment regarding the initial contact was evident. "To be honest, I didn’t even notice the contact," he confessed, his voice tinged with a mix of surprise and frustration. "I don’t know, I just have to review what’s happened, to be honest." He clarified that while his car sustained "some damage, but it was not big," the penalties were the primary detrimental factor to his race outcome. Ultimately, Tsunoda finished the Brazilian Grand Prix in 17th and last position, a stark contrast to the competitive pace he believed he could have demonstrated.
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"Shame about the contact," he added, reflecting on the incident. "But I think the pace was okay, especially in the last stint. I was completely out of position, so… Shame about the penalties and extra pitstop that was not in my control. A shame, because something worked well, but at the same time something didn’t work. For me, this weekend, nothing worked at all." His remarks underscored a deep sense of disappointment, particularly given his assessment of the car’s performance in clear air.
Tsunoda’s candid assessment of his weekend as one where "nothing worked at all" was largely supported by his qualifying performances. He started the sprint race from 18th position and the main Grand Prix from 19th, highlighting a pervasive struggle for pace and optimal setup for the AlphaTauri car at Interlagos. This tough weekend was not exclusive to Tsunoda’s garage, as the wider Red Bull family, including the dominant Red Bull Racing team, also faced an uncharacteristically challenging event. While Max Verstappen, the reigning world champion, managed to salvage a third-place finish in the Grand Prix through a combination of strategic brilliance and sheer driving talent, the team’s overall performance was below their usual high standards. This context emphasizes the difficulties AlphaTauri, as a junior team, would naturally face under such circumstances.
Despite the setbacks, Laurent Mekies, the Team Principal for AlphaTauri, expressed a nuanced view, seeing reasons for satisfaction amidst the unfortunate circumstances surrounding Tsunoda’s race. "It’s a bit unfortunate," Mekies commented, acknowledging the chain of events. "He lost a lot of time in the contact, got the extra 10-second penalty, then we made a mistake on our side and we got another 10-second extra penalty. It’s a shame it doesn’t seem to be going our way."
Mekies was keen to highlight Tsunoda’s underlying performance, particularly in the latter stages of the race. "His last stint in clean air is strong. You can do it yourself if you take the race plot and remove these two times 10 seconds, you actually end up in a decent fight for points. But again, it’s the same thing, ‘would’ and ‘should’ don’t win races. We can only pocket the last strong stint in free air that he has done." This sentiment reflects a team principal’s typical focus on extracting positives and learning from adverse situations, even when the final result is disappointing.
A hypothetical analysis, as suggested by Mekies, of removing the cumulative 20 seconds from Tsunoda’s total race time would indeed dramatically alter his perceived finishing position. Such a reduction would, on paper, hypothetically vault him up to seventh in the race classification, placing him firmly within the points-scoring positions. However, the intricacies of Formula 1 racing mean such calculations are often overly simplistic. The latter stages of the Brazilian Grand Prix saw an intense, multi-car battle involving no fewer than ten drivers vying for the final four points-scoring positions (7th through 10th). This close-quarters racing inevitably led to significant dirty air, strategic maneuvering, and a slower overall pace for the cars involved in that specific fight.
To illustrate this complexity, approximately ten laps before the race’s conclusion, Tsunoda was already 32.6 seconds adrift of seventh position. Therefore, merely subtracting 20 seconds from his race time at that point would have brought him only to 13th place, still outside the points. This nuanced perspective underscores that while Tsunoda’s raw pace in clear air might have been competitive, the combination of his initial track position after the incident, the subsequent penalties, and the dynamic nature of the points battle ahead of him meant that a top-seven finish was, realistically, a long shot. The "woulda, coulda, shoulda" scenario, while offering a glimpse into potential, cannot override the tangible impact of race incidents and operational errors.
This incident, coming amidst a challenging weekend for AlphaTauri, highlighted the fine margins in Formula 1. Tsunoda, in his third season in F1, has consistently shown flashes of speed and aggressive driving, but also a propensity for race incidents and penalties. For AlphaTauri, currently battling for constructor championship positions, every point is crucial. Their performance in Brazil, with Tsunoda finishing last and teammate Liam Lawson (if applicable, based on the specific race) also out of the points, meant a missed opportunity to gain ground on rivals. The focus for the team will undoubtedly be on analyzing the incident, refining pit stop procedures, and ensuring Tsunoda can harness his undoubted speed without costly errors in upcoming fixtures. The next race, with its fresh challenges, will provide an immediate opportunity for the Japanese driver and his team to put the frustrations of Interlagos behind them and aim for a cleaner, more productive performance.
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Author Profile
- Jonas Leo is a passionate motorsport journalist and lifelong Formula 1 enthusiast. With a sharp eye for race strategy and driver performance, he brings readers closer to the world of Grand Prix racing through in-depth analysis, breaking news, and exclusive paddock insights. Jonas has covered everything from preseason testing to dramatic title deciders, capturing the emotion and precision that define modern F1. When he’s not tracking lap times or pit stop tactics, he enjoys exploring classic racing archives and writing about the evolution of F1 technology.
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