Yuki Tsunoda has apologised to his Racing Bulls team-mate, Arvid Lindblad, for a collision at the start of the Dutch Grand Prix sprint race, which fortunately had minimal consequences.
Tsunoda returned to Formula 1 this weekend as part of a driver shuffle after Isack Hadjar suffered a wrist fracture. Regular-season Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson was chosen to replace the Frenchman, and Tsunoda was drafted in from his holiday in Greece to fill the seat left vacant by the New Zealander.
After getting up to speed with the new era of F1 machinery swiftly, Tsunoda started in 12th place, one position behind Lindblad. But in a hurry to get around Turn 1, the Japanese driver was too quick on the throttle and drove into the rear of his team-mate.
“I was literally entering the corner like last year,” said Tsunoda. “I forgot there's less grip. I apologise to Arvid. I tapped him, but I also was surprised by the amount of people slowing down in Turn 1. It was a lot more than I expected, so certainly I'll be careful because Arvid's still in front of me tomorrow.”
The moment, largely missed in the usual melee at the start of a Zandvoort race, had no lasting effect on the sprint race, which saw Lindblad take the flag in 10th place and Tsunoda in 13th. As suggested by Tsunoda, the pair start in close company on Sunday, with Lindblad in 10th and Tsunoda directly behind in 12th.
Asked if he had felt the early contact, Lindblad said: “A tiny bit, yeah. But it wasn't intentional at all. Immediately after the race, he came to apologise. I remembered it, but I forgot about it pretty quickly because it was so small. So, yeah, it's fine.”
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