Yuki Tsunoda has admitted his enormous Imola F1 qualifying crash may have lingering results, as he has to revert to a earlier flooring design at this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
Tsunoda suffered an infinite accident final Saturday in Q1 as he overstepped the restrict of the Purple Bull within the quick Tamburello chicane, sending him into the limitations. The Japanese driver fortunately climbed unharmed, however enormous injury to the automotive meant the staff needed to construct up a spare chassis with a brand new energy unit and flooring.
Talking forward of the Monaco Grand Prix Tsunoda has confirmed his crash means he’ll return to being behind on specification of the Purple Bull RB21 in comparison with team-mate Max Verstappen. Motorsport.com has realized that Tsunoda will probably be reverting to Purple Bull’s older, pre-Miami flooring. Verstappen ran the brand new flooring in Miami earlier than Tsunoda obtained it as effectively in Imola, however he then broken it past restore in qualifying. It’s understood to be the one distinction with Verstappen’s automotive this weekend.
“When it comes to bundle, to be sincere I by no means ran the complete new bundle but, even Imola was just a little bit totally different,” Tsunoda stated. “I do not assume we’ll have a full one [in Monaco], I simply made a step again anyway, which is my fault.”
Tsunoda stated his Imola crash, which recovered from with a robust drive from a pitlane begin to some extent in tenth, confirmed he nonetheless must construct up data of how this 12 months’s Purple Bull reacts to set-up adjustments, having jumped in on the Japanese Grand Prix with out testing.
“Imola qualifying, it would not occur like that if I perceive the automotive, to be sincere,” he defined. “Within the VCARB, I do not assume I’ve had that form of crash on my own since 2022. I used to be pushing an excessive amount of, so it is simply missing understanding of how the automotive goes to behave with every set-up.
Yuki Tsunoda, Purple Bull Racing
Photograph by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Photographs through Getty Photographs
“The set-up I attempted was utterly new. To be sincere, I assume the Purple Bull adjustments greater than I anticipated. The VCARB automotive, even when we modify it, I do not assume it could have that a lot of a distinction. So, I simply need to take it simple after I change the set-up and take a look at one thing new.
“It is taking barely greater than anticipated. However as a bunch we’ve got a superb relationship between me and Woody [race engineer Richard Wood] and Cooke [performance engineer Richard Cooke] as effectively. From our facet of the storage, we simply continue to learn each race.”
The 25-year-old’s job will not be any simpler across the tight streets of Monaco, which leaves little room for error, however Tsunoda vows he’ll construct up the tempo regularly.
“When it comes to observe, I fairly prefer it, and I had good recollections final two years,” he stated. “Apparently, the Purple Bull automotive is a really bumpy automotive in Monaco and it isn’t a straightforward automotive to drive, that is what Max stated.
“So, I simply must construct the arrogance and hopefully I could make a superb qualifying. You possibly can’t simply comply with the identical strategy as Imola or different tracks the place you could have a little bit of run-off, so I am simply going to construct up the tempo slowly.”
As is the case with many groups, Purple Bull has introduced circuit-specific upgrades to deal with Monaco’s distinctive format. New elements embody a higher-downforce rear wing, revised brake ducts for cooling functions and a tweaked entrance suspension to permit for larger steering lock to deal with the tight hairpin.
On this article
Filip Cleeren
Formulation 1
Yuki Tsunoda
Purple Bull Racing
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