Tsunoda fears gearbox issue after qualifying crash
Japanese driver crashed in qualifying for the second successive race weekend
Yuki Tsunoda revealed issues with the gearbox on his AlphaTauri prevented him from getting back to the pits after crashing in the opening session of qualifying for the French Grand Prix.
Japanese driver Tsunoda lost control as he went over the extra-high inner kerbs in turn one, unsettling the car and causing him to be pitched into a spin and into the barriers, stopping the session.
“After I spun, I tried to shift down to first gear to restart,” said Tsunoda. ”The rear wing was broken, but still I thought I could manage to get out from there, but something, the gear was not working.
“I went to neutral and also the reverse was working but I think the clutch was not working and the car did not move at all. Hopefully it is not the gearbox, but, yeah.“
It was the second race weekend in succession that Tsunoda has crashed out in qualifying, having hit the wall in the top-ten shoot out at the last race in Baku.
This was also not Tsunoda's first Q1 crash of the year, the 20-year-old finding the barriers at Imola in what was the second race of his F1 career.
The session was stopped again later on when Mick Schumacher crashed his Haas car into the barriers and damaged his suspension. For Haas, this was a double blow as Schumacher had been able to secure a position in Q2 for the first time.
Related
More F1 news
Latest F1 news
Recommended by the editors
Ferrari
Ferrari face Lewis Hamilton decision they never wanted to make
Austrian Grand Prix
F1 Practice Today: Austrian Grand Prix 2026 start times, schedule, TV channel and FREE live stream
F1 News & Gossip
Fernando Alonso 'leaning towards' big decision on his F1 future
Lewis Hamilton
How Lewis Hamilton survived late FIA inspection to keep Barcelona Grand Prix victory
Races
-
Grand Prix of Australia 2026
-
Grand Prix of China 2026
-
Grand Prix of Japan 2026
-
Grand Prix of Bahrain 2026
-
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2026
-
Miami Grand Prix 2026
-
Grand Prix du Canada 2026
-
Grand Prix De Monaco 2026
-
Gran Premio de Barcelona-Catalunya 2026
-
Grand Prix of Austria 2026
-
Grand Prix of Great Britain 2026
-
Grand Prix of Belgium 2026
-
Grand Prix of Hungary 2026
-
Dutch Grand Prix 2026
-
Grand Prix of Italy 2026
-
Gran Premio de España 2026
-
Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2026
-
Grand Prix of Singapore 2026
-
Grand Prix of the United States 2026
-
Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2026
-
Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2026
-
Las Vegas Grand Prix 2026
-
Qatar Grand Prix 2026
-
Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2026
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Editorial & corporate information
Avenue HQ
10–12 East Parade
Leeds
LS1 2BH
United Kingdom Regional correspondence
View contact page