Formula 1 Mexican GP
Tost can't "understand anything" about Tsunoda incident
AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost does not understand why Red Bull was so critical of Yuki Tsunoda after qualifying for Formula 1’s Mexican Grand Prix.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Nov 7, 2021, 6:03 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Tsunoda came under fire from Red Bull's drivers and management after him running off track in the closing stages of Q3 was blamed for wrecking the final laps of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.
But Tost is adamant that Tsunoda did absolutely nothing wrong, and was absolutely right to dive off the circuit to try to get out of the way of the faster cars behind him.
"I absolutely don't understand why Perez went also off the track there," said Tost. "Yuki went to the side as all the drivers do in qualifying to make a place for the cars that are coming behind, which are on a qualifying lap.
"He was not on a qualifying lap. It is as easy as that. Therefore I don't understand anything about this."
Read Also:
Tost explained that Tsunoda was fully aware that faster cars were approaching him, and that the Japanese youngster decided that the best way for him to get out of the way was to run off track.
"We told him on the radio that the Red Bulls are coming, and he just went off the track so they could pass easily," said Tost. "Perez followed him. It is not Yuki's fault.
"He didn't make a mistake, he did it deliberately. We said to him the Red Bulls are coming, that Perez is coming and he deliberately went to the side not to disturb them or be in front of them."
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT02, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
While Tsunoda is starting from the back of the grid because of an engine change penalty, AlphaTauri pushed for him to get through to Q3 so he could give teammate Pierre Gasly a slipstream.
Tost added: "He gave a tow to Pierre, it is as easy as that. We wanted him to be in front of Norris. That is why he was out."
Tsunoda himself was surprised that his rivals were unhappy with what he did, and maintained that he did all he could to get out of their way.
Writing on social media he said: "Happy with my quali today. However in the end there is nothing more I could have done in that situation. Tomorrow we will fight for every place."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Haas: Drivers should listen, not try to be strategists
Next article Hamilton will “work as a team” with Bottas at Mexico GP start
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1 Dec 31, 2024
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1 Dec 31, 2024
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Dec 28, 2024
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Latest news
Sebastien Bourdais hopes latest WEC success will remind teams of his value
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
8 min
Sebastien Bourdais hopes latest WEC success will remind teams of his value
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 h
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Iker Lecuona felt significant differences between Ducati's GP25 and GP26
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
2 h
Iker Lecuona felt significant differences between Ducati's GP25 and GP26
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe