F1's high profile bromance in peril? 'We are fighting for our careers in F1'

19:00, 26 Apr

byNorberto Mujica

On the first lap of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, at Turn 4, Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly made race-ending contact. Particularly painful since the Japanese and the Frenchman's close relationship is very well known? Here's how both drivers reacted to their lap 1 shunt.

For Tsunoda the crash came as he was trying to score his second haul of points for Red Bull, after an inconsistent debut for the Austrian team, and an untimely FP2 crash that very weekend in Jeddah.

'We're fighting for our careers in F1'

Tsunoda acknowledged the pain of the crash, due to the high profile seat he now holds and the uncertainty that surrounds his future in F1 since his contract with Red Bull expires at the end of this year.

"It's painful to hit anyone in the first lap," said the Japanese driver to media at Jeddah, including GPblog. "It's not ideal. We are fighting for our careers in Formula 1, trying to have success, so the real pain is the DNF," dismissing the collision involving Gasly as a factor that would add more distress to the situation.

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Tsunoda drives the RB21 around Jeddah

Gasly highlights Tsunoda's intentions

For the Alpine driver, Pierre Gasly, it was essentially a racing incident, as he said after the race to media like GPblog.

"I know his intentions. I know there's huge respect between Yuki and myself so I know he didn't mean anything bad. It's more sort of judgment and first lap, cold tyres etc."

"In the end we all fight for our race so it feels like we should have taken slightly more margin but at the same time at the end of the day it's motorsport and a track like this unfortunately [the move] cannot be."

A missed opportunity, not just for Tsunoda, but for Gasly as well. "I think it is the main thing, I mean the incident itself is racing, but it's more the fact that the car looked strong. I was very confident going into the race that we'll have the pace to fight those Williams," the Frenchman said.