Yuki Tsunoda believes his penalty in the Spanish Grand Prix was “ridiculous” and “really unfair” after losing out on points for forcing Zhou Guanyu off track,
Zhou had tried to overtake Tsunoda around the outside of Turn 1 with 12 laps remaining but the AlphaTauri driver held on, with Zhou taking to the escape road and protesting he had been forced off. The stewards investigated the incident and handed Tsunoda a five-second time penalty that demoted him from ninth at the checkered flag to 12th, stating that “Car 24 was in front at and after the apex of Turn 1 and hence under the Driving Standards Guidelines was entitled to racing room”.
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In response, Tsunoda said: “It was a ridiculous penalty and it feels really unfair. That’s it.
“I left him room and I feel like he just gave it up in the early stages and went outside. He got caught out and there was still space outside there. I gave pressure but there was still space. I understand why it was a penalty but it feels very harsh.”
Tsunoda himself felt he was also wronged because he wasn’t given the opportunity to argue his case despite the incident occurring late in the race, even though stewards attempt to decide on racing incidents without driver input.
“I didn’t hear those things and I only heard after the checkered flag. I was really happy but after the radio … I was a bit curious if the team actually fight back to not get a penalty. But anyway, I guess they did. But it’s good to have a bit of discussion with the FIA because they gave five seconds without any discussion and then the race is over. It feels unfair.”
From Zhou’s point of view, the Alfa Romeo driver felt he had to take evasive action or the pair would have collided.
“At the end, I knew I had the pace to take Yuki,” Zhou said. “I had DRS, I was half a car ahead going into the corner, but I wasn’t given any space and didn’t have any other choice than to take the escape route to avoid contact.”