Yuki Tsunoda

Tsunoda recalls awkward Silverstone journey after 'STUPID' question

Yuki Tsunoda and Franz Tost have a strong working relationship, but the Japanese driver has recounted one frosty encounter from 2022

Harry Smith

Saturday 22 April 2023 16:57

Yuki Tsunoda has detailed his interaction with AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost after his crash with team-mate Pierre Gasly at the 2022 British Grand Prix.

The Japanese driver was at fault for the incident in question, tagging and spinning his AlphaTauri team-mate, who was unable to finish the Grand Prix.

Tsunoda has already experienced plenty of criticism from the higher-ups in the Red Bull set-up following a string of radio outbursts and on-track incidents during his two seasons in Formula 1.

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That said, the Japanese driver is showing signs of notable improvement and has outperformed team-mate Nyck de Vries in all three rounds of the 2023 season.

Frosty Tost

Speaking on the Beyond The Grid podcast about the incident, Tsunoda joked: “He didn’t punch me of course!

“The voice was definitely higher than usual. First of all, when I was in the engineer room, he said: ‘Yuki, come to my office. Why did you do such a stupid thing?'"

Tsunoda then explained how the awkwardness progressed after that interaction.

Tsunoda has endured his fair share of incidents during his time in Formula 1

“On the way to the airport from Silverstone, we were in the same car. Unfortunately, on the way back to Italy, we were on the same flight and we were sitting next to each other!

“It was a long, long journey and that was definitely something I want to forget. But they are things I have to remember for the future to improve myself.”