During the second free practice at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Yuki Tsunoda had his first major crash as a Red Bull driver. The Japanese driver hit the wall in the final phase of the session. A shame, Tsunoda thinks, because his speed looked good before the incident.
Yuki Tsunoda started Friday at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit well, finishing the first free practice just a hundredth behind teammate Max Verstappen. However, the next free practice ended with a setback for the Japanese driver. In the final minutes of the training, Tsunoda hit the wall with his left front wheel and then drove straight into the barriers. The front wing flew off the RB21.
“I turned in too sharply. As a result, I hit the wall on the inside of my wheel,” Tsunoda reflects, speaking to F1TV. “I then had damage and no control over the car. I would like to apologize to the team.” Yet, the Red Bull driver saw one small bright spot in the second practice session. “The speed looked good, so it’s a shame.”
Confidence
Whether the crash will affect the Japanese driver during the rest of the weekend, Tsunoda himself is not really worried about. The Japanese driver is feeling more and more comfortable with the RB21. “I felt quite confident,” the Red Bull driver continues. “My last lap on the soft tire was not ideal, regarding warming up the tire. But so far it’s going pretty well. The feeling was also good. There’s still more in it, but the short run was fine.”
