Hiroki Tsunoda's frustrating start to the 2024 F1 season continues after he was handed a Saudi Arabian Grand Prix penalty by stewards for forcing him into the path of Lando Norris.
Tsunoda went into the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix knowing he needed a calmer race weekend following his team's instructions for RB teammate Daniel Ricciardo's involvement in Bahrain, but Tsunoda kept a clean run on track. However, I'm sure I'll be frustrated again after the race. Penalty in Jeddah.
Hiroki Tsunoda receives a 5 second time penalty
Before the start of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Tsunoda was on his way to a pre-race reconnaissance lap when he came to the attention of the stewards for potentially risking his release from the RB garage.
The stewards decided that Tsunoda's appearance had forced McLaren's Norris to take evasive action, and decided to add five seconds to Tsunoda's race time.
Tsunoda at least received some form of reprieve as the stewards refrained from issuing the one super license penalty point that normally occurs in incidents of this kind.
“Stewards have considered video, team radio and in-car video evidence, and have heard from the drivers and team principals of cars No. 22 and No. 4, and have determined that car No. 22 was parked in a dangerous condition in the garage during a reconnaissance lap into the path of car No. 4. “evasive action had to be taken to avoid a collision,'' their report began.
“The driver of the No. 22 car admitted that he was distracted by the team's No. 1 car leaving the garage and did not see him signal him not to come out. He apologized for his oversight. did.
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“Dangerous releases during a race (including reconnaissance laps) normally result in a 5-second time penalty, which is what we imposed. Additionally, for this type of violation, a 1-second time penalty is imposed. It would be appropriate to award a penalty point.
“Given that this happened during a reconnaissance lap and not during the actual race, we decided not to impose penalty points.”
It was already an overwhelming game for the RBs, with Tsunoda's penalty dropping him to 15th place behind Williams' Logan Sargent, while teammate Daniel Ricciardo remained in 16th place. A difficult night ended with a late spin. Turn 1.
RB continues to aim for its first points of the 2024 F1 season.
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