Yuki Tsunoda’s Crash in FP2: A Self-Admitted Error

In the final moments of FP2, Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda found himself crashing into the exit wall at the final hairpin. This incident, which occurred with less than nine minutes remaining, seemed to have damaged his track rod, leaving him with no control over his vehicle. The Japanese driver climbed out unscathed and quickly apologized to his team for the significant repair work that awaited them on Friday night.

The Cause of the Mishap

Speaking to F1 TV, Tsunoda explained, “I turned too much and clipped the inside wall, which resulted in damage. After that, I had no control.” He expressed his apologies to the team, acknowledging that things were looking promising before the unfortunate incident.

Prior to the crash, Tsunoda was enjoying a solid session, securing the sixth-fastest time, seven tenths behind session leader Lando Norris in the McLaren, and four tenths behind his world champion teammate Max Verstappen.

Analysis of the Session

Tsunoda had been performing well up until that point, with a qualifying simulation lap he described as “pretty good.” However, he admitted to being compromised by the tire warm-up, but overall, he felt things were going well. Unfortunately, his own mistake led to limited time on the long run, which he can’t complain about.

Norris led teammate Oscar Piastri by 0.163s in the second practice session, which was held at the same time as Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race, providing a more accurate representation than the sweltering first practice session headed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

Red Bull’s Performance on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit

It is worth noting that Verstappen and Tsunoda tend to run Friday with relatively conservative engine modes. This suggests that Red Bull’s performance on the vastly different Jeddah Corniche circuit may not be as disastrous as their sobering Bahrain weekend.