“Tsunoda’s bid for the lead was ruined by red flag rules.”
Yuki Tsunoda thinks that if it weren’t for the safety car at Interlagos and the red flags that followed, she could be the leader in the Brazilian Grand Prix race
The Japanese pilot was one of the few pilots who preferred to switch to rain tyres with the blue logo while it rained on the Sao Paulo track, and at one stage, he toured almost five seconds faster per lap than those around him with his teammate Liam Lawson.
However, with the intensification of the storm and the resistance of the others in the intermediate tires, the race control had no other choice but to send the safety vehicle to the track. Then Franco Colapinto had an accident while trying to catch up with the group after the pit stop and the red flag was issued.
Tsunoda, who was third before the pit stop, lost due to F1’s rules allowing free tire change in red flag conditions, eventually finishing the race in eighth place. However, he rose to the seventh place thanks to the 10-second penalty given to Oscar Piastri.
Tsunoda, “I think it was the right decision to switch to rain tires.”
“However, when the security vehicle and the red flag came out, the situation became very bad for us. If the red flag had not been issued, I could probably have passed many vehicles and risen to the first place, but the situation did not develop in our favor.” said.
Lawson also contributed to the sixth place struggle in the RB’s teams rankings by scoring points, but they could not maintain their place against Alpine, who won the two podiums.
Emphasizing the importance of the outcome for the Faenza-based team, Tsunoda added: “The conditions were not easy. If you lose your concentration, it can have many consequences.”
“I enjoyed the last episode, I fought well with Oscar Piastri. I tried to be in 10 seconds. I could have done a lot of things wrong, but I kept the fight clean and tried to get to seventh, which is a good thing.”