‘Oh, Jesus!’ — Yuki Tsunoda reacts to massive 60-place grid penalty at Belgian GP
VCARB’s Yuki Tsunoda
Yuki Tsunoda will be starting the Belgian Grand Prix on the back foot thanks to a 60-place grid penalty!
The VCARB driver sounded shocked to hear that his penalty was so large while speaking to Will Buxton after Free Practice 2.
Yuki Tsunoda reacts: ‘Oh, Jesus!’
Speaking to Formula 1 pundit Will Buxton in the press pen after Free Practice 2, Yuki Tsunoda seemed to learn of his massive 60-place grid penalty for the first time.
“Oh, Jesus!” he exclaimed, sending Buxton into a fit of laughter.
While Max Verstappen only received a 10-place grid penalty for taking a new internal combustion engine, Tsunoda took on a massive slew of new power unit components.
His refreshed power unit features a new combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-H, MGU-K, energy store, control electronics, and exhaust. Because these changes placed him beyond his allowed allocation of PU components, Tsunoda triggered the 10-place grid penalty six different times.
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Continuing his conversation with Buxton, Tsunoda kept his expectations reasonable for his Belgian Grand Prix, especially as rain looms over the forecast.
“Normally we perform well in the rain,” Tsunoda reflected. “For now, I prefer rain, but any condition, I’ll just focus on what I can help for Daniel — slipstreaming or whatever.”
That’s because Tsunoda identified some issues with his car during practice.
“I think it was pretty difficult, especially for our side of the garage,” he said when asked about his perceptions of his practice session.
“We found the issue, especially where we’re lacking where we’re compared to other cars, including the other side of the garage.
“Hopefully we can repair that for tomorrow.”
Read next: Explained: Why Yuki Tsunoda was hit with huge 60-place Belgian GP grid penalty
