F1 | Monza GP – Yuki Tsunoda finishes 13th at the Italian GP after incidents with Liam Lawson and Lewis Hamilton
It was a challenging day for Yuki Tsunoda at the Italian Grand Prix, with two incidents marking his race. The Japanese driver finished 13th, having secured ninth in qualifying, but a couple of incidents prevented him from scoring points.
Despite the setbacks, Tsunoda showed improvements both in qualifying and in the race, though not enough to keep pace with his teammate, who went on to win the GP.
The Japanese driver found the contact with Liam Lawson particularly pointless, especially since the New Zealander was not fighting for points. While rivalry on track is normal, causing damage without reason made no sense to the Red Bull driver.
In addition to the contact with Lawson, Tsunoda also had an episode with Lewis Hamilton. The 25-year-old is satisfied with how he handled the situation and successfully avoided a collision with the Ferrari.
Overall, it was not an easy race for him, and once again he finished outside the points.
The contact with Lawson
When asked what affected his performance the most during the Grand Prix, Tsunoda pointed to the contact with Liam Lawson.
“The pit stop went well. Then I was distracted by Lawson, who touched me, and the damage was quite significant,” Tsunoda said. “I suffered considerable damage that slowed me down a lot, which was very frustrating and, in my opinion, completely unnecessary.”
This contact severely damaged the Red Bull and affected its downforce.
The 25-year-old admitted: “I didn’t get the specific details, but it’s not just a few points of downforce lost. It was really, really significant damage.”
“I was gaining a second per lap [before the contact]. He started last and wasn’t even fighting for points. I don’t know. If you’re fighting for points, I can understand why. Even if he’s a teammate… we’re still enemies. And especially in my current position, probably one of the most competitive in the world. But at the same time, there’s a line you can’t cross. I mean, what’s the point? I was fighting for points and he wasn’t. I don’t know what to say,” Tsunoda explained.
Hamilton and improvements
Shifting topics, Tsunoda also felt justified regarding the incident with Lewis Hamilton.
“Yes, it was clear he squeezed me. Probably he didn’t even make it through turn one, right? So I’m happy with what I did.”
“I’m glad I managed to avoid the collision,” he added. “Actually, that’s a good point! I’ll give myself more credit. He hadn’t even reached the corner yet, so he basically dove into me. I’ll definitely raise this issue.”
After all these collisions, Tsunoda still managed to find some positives from the Monza GP.
“It’s a tough situation, but at the same time I think my qualifying laps are improving. There are some tips that are helping me a lot. Today and throughout the weekend, in terms of fast laps, in Q1 and Q2 I was twice right behind Max [Verstappen].”
“We know there’s a big gap, but in Q3 I’m not exactly sure what happened. The difference isn’t as big now; I’m getting closer. Obviously, the long run is something I need to work on a bit more. Especially on days like today, it didn’t help with the damage I had.”
“Yes, I don’t know, it happens regularly. It’s not an easy situation, but I just have to keep fighting,” concluded the Red Bull driver.
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