Visa Cash App RB driver Yuki Tsunoda has now hit out at a Formula 1 rival over their ‘completely unnecessary’ incident during the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix last weekend.
The 23-year-old enjoyed his 71st Grand Prix entry to date as F1 finally returned to Shanghai. But Tsunoda could only manage P16 in the F1 Sprint and failed to finish the Chinese GP. The Japanese talent even only secured P19 during qualifying for both, the Sprint and Grand Prix.
It was Tsunoda’s worst race weekend of the 2024 season so far, straight after sealing back-to-back top-10 finishes. He had scored all seven of the points Visa Cash App RB have on the board this season with P7 in the Australian GP and P10 in the Japanese GP at his home race.
Yuki Tsunoda slams Kevin Magnussen for their crash in the 2024 F1 Chinese GP
Teammate Daniel Ricciardo also retired from the Chinese GP to see RB post their first double DNF since the 2021 Italian GP. Tsunoda failed to start at Monza that year owing to an engine failure in his AlphaTauri. Pierre Gasly retired from the 2021 Italian GP on Lap 3 after a crash.
It was also crashes that ended RB drivers Tsunoda and Ricciardo’s races in the Chinese GP. Contact with Haas rival Kevin Magnussen ended Tsunoda’s day on Lap 26 of the 57 after the first safety car restart. Ricciardo managed to limp to Lap 33 after Lance Stroll ran into his RB.
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Stroll rear-ended Ricciardo after Fernando Alonso made the field bunch up entering the T14 hairpin. The contact damaged the RB’s rear diffuser and also forced the 34-year-old into his Australian compatriot, Oscar Piastri. The damage was also ultimately too severe to continue.
Yuki Tsunoda brands his and Kevin Magnussen’s crash ‘completely unnecessary’
Tsunoda survived the initial restart phase, unlike his RB teammate Ricciardo, but Magnussen ended his Chinese GP at Turn 6. The 31-year-old, who recorded his 169th Grand Prix entry in Shanghai, tagged the Japanese talent into a spin after attempting an overtake for 13th place.
Magnussen lunged down Tsunoda’s inside at T6 after the RB racer gave him a lot of space to attack. But the Dane got a slight kick of oversteer as he drifted out to the racing line. The tag damaged Tsunoda’s rear-right tyre and merited a 10-second time penalty for Magnussen.
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His penalty moved Magnussen down from P15 at the chequered flag to P16 with Stroll, who served a 10-second penalty for hitting Ricciardo during the Chinese GP, gaining a place. But the time penalty did little to quell Tsunoda’s anger at Magnussen for ending his Chinese GP.
“That’s very frustrating,” he said, via Speedweek-Veraergert-ueber-Magnussen.html). “After the early exit in qualifying, I started from 19th place on the grid but I was happy about the constant progress. In that turn I gave Kevin a lot of space. The collision was completely unnecessary.”
Tsunoda added: “Ten seconds is better than five but, ultimately, that doesn’t change the fact that I had to give up and he was able to continue.”
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