MONTMELO, Spain — Yuki Tsunoda labelled his penalty on the Spanish Grand Prix “ridiculous” after he dropped from ninth place to twelfth following an in-race investigation by the stewards.
The AlphaTauri driver was penalised 5 seconds for forcing Zhou Guanyu off the circuit at Flip 1 on lap 56 whereas defending ninth place.
Tsunoda defended the nook on the within, however Zhou was capable of get forward of the AlphaTauri within the braking zone, which was listed within the stewards’ report as a defining consider issuing the penalty.
“Automotive 24 [Zhou] was in entrance at and after the apex of Flip 1 and therefore underneath the Driving Requirements Pointers was entitled to racing room,” the stewards stated. “Automotive 22 moved throughout to the skin of the nook, forcing Automotive 24 off the observe.”
Requested for his ideas on the penalty after the race, Tsunoda stated: “It was a ridiculous penalty and it feels actually unfair. That is it.
“I left him room and I really feel like he simply gave it up within the early phases and went outdoors. He received caught out and there was nonetheless area outdoors there. I gave strain however there was nonetheless area.”
Zhou argued the penalty was appropriate, once more citing the actual fact he was forward going into the nook.
“It was very easy,” the Alfa Romeo driver stated. “I used to be forward earlier than braking into Flip 1 after which mid-corner, I used to be really giving lots of area. Then I simply noticed him [and he] wasn’t stopping.
“[He tried] to launch the brakes [but he] ran me off, which I needed to take avoiding motion and [use the] escape street, in any other case we’d be crashing collectively.
“So, that was tough after that as a result of I had a lot garbage on my tyre. However then, in the long run, I used to be capable of hold behind him in the proper place and get the place again.”