RB kept Yuki Tsunoda in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix despite the significant damage his car sustained on the first lap of the race for what his race engineer called “teamwork” reasons.
Following his first-lap collision with Lance Stroll, RB told Tsunoda to allow his team mate to overtake him, then left him on track as others tried to pass the RB. The team even turned down a request from Tsunoda to make a pit stop on one lap.Only after Tsunoda finally made his pit stop, and had fallen to the back of the field, did RB choose to retire his car. “I’m sorry if we didn’t call you in earlier,” said his race engineer Ernesto Desiderio. “We were trying to do a bit of teamwork.”
Tsunoda’s car was damaged when Stroll attempted to pass him at turn four on the first lap of the race. Tsunoda avoided losing any other places until the third lap, when Lando Norris and Nico Hulkenberg overtook him.
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The team then told him to let his team mate Daniel Ricciardo past, which he did. Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly overtook him on the same lap.
But the Sauber pair, pursued by Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, were unable to pass Tsunoda, even as he lost over a second per lap to the cars ahead.
By lap 10 the cars ahead were beginning to make their pit stops and RB advised Tsunoda he might have a chance to race Franco Colapinto. However the Williams driver came out of the pits several seconds ahead of their car.
Tsunoda asked for a pit stop of his own by this point but RB refused. They eventually agreed on the 12th lap, after further entreaties from Tsunoda, but soon after he returned to the track they told him to pit again to retire.
At this point RB revealed to Tsunoda they had been “trying to do a bit of teamwork” by keeping him on track despite his uncompetitive lap times due to the damage.
Leaving Tsunoda’s car on track was potentially a risky decision for RB. Last year the team (then known as AlphaTauri) was fined €5,000 (£4,400) after the stewards ruled they sent Tsunoda’s car onto the track in an unsafe condition following his collision with team mate Nyck de Vries during the sprint race.
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Tsunoda’s 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix radio messages
| Lap: 1/51 TSU: 2’03.649 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tsunoda | Check there is no damage from that. Rear right. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Copy on it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Go mode seven when you go. DRS enabled. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 2/51 TSU: 1’51.648 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Offset three. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Can go entry nine. We see a bit of load offset on the rear floor. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 3/51 TSU: 1’53.328 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Yuki we’ve picked up a lot of damage. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tsunoda | The fuck… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Let Daniel go. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tsunoda | Well I still can race, no? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Yeah, We are down on load a lot. Let’s let Daniel past. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tsunoda | [Unclear] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Yes, please. Two cars pass Tsunoda on the right approaching turn one. |
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| Lap: 4/51 TSU: 1’53.997 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | A car passes Tsunoda on the inside at turn three. I hear you. |
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| Desiderio | Mode six, mode six. And offset four when you can. Tsunoda runs wide at turn one. |
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| Lap: 7/51 TSU: 1’51.075 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | You’re doing a good job with what we have. Keep doing that. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 8/51 TSU: 1’50.887 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Multi B1 position seven. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 11/51 TSU: 1’52.485 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Could be fighting Colapinto. He’s on pit exit now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tsunoda | I need to change, I think. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Copy, Yuki, understood. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tsunoda | This lap if it’s possible. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Negative, negative, stay out. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Shape four when you can, shape four. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tsunoda | Mate, this lap, I don’t know. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Stay out. Stay out. Tsunoda is overtaken by a Sauber on the inside approaching turn one. |
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| Lap: 12/51 TSU: 2’01.304 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tsunoda | Mate… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Multi B1 position one. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Box, Yuki, box. Box box box box. Offset two in the pit lane. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 13/51 TSU: 2’11.939 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | We are fighting Bottas on pit exit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 14/51 TSU: 2’05.900 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | The damage is too big. We need to retire the car. I’m really sorry. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | So we box this lap. It’s frustrating, I know. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | And we box Yuki, box for retirement. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tsunoda | Is he under investigation, at least? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | Unfortunately, there is no investigation, Yuki, at the moment. I see it’s frustrating. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desiderio | I’m sorry if we didn’t call you in earlier. We were trying to do a bit of teamwork. You will see how the car is when you jump out. We have a big hole on the right sidepod. I’m really sorry mate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- Verstappen: “Important” for FIA to clarify legality of McLaren’s ‘mini DRS’ wing
- Hamilton explains suspension set-up change behind “miserable” Baku weekend
- Piastri needs “crazy” results to become title contender despite Baku win
- FIA taking new look at flexing bodywork amid intrigue over McLaren’s rear wing
- Norris knew Verstappen broke VSC rules in Baku because he did the same in Melbourne
PacificPR (@streydt)
18th September 2024, 13:06
The RB’s seem to be in the doldrums, they can’t really fight for points and I have the feeling Yuki has lost his momentum from the beginning of the year and Daniel is simply not in tune with this generation of cars. As much as I like both drivers and their characters – I feel that their chances of getting a seat in the RBR are fading away. Maybe it would be best for the team and the drivers to go in another direction and give Hadjar and Lawson their seats next year.
Nick T.
18th September 2024, 14:24
Yes. It’s been highly disappointing all around since their brief period where they looked like easily the 5th fastest team. Then they brought that update that they said was basically a new car and since then they’ve basically hovered between 6th and 9th best. It seems like their race pace is halfway decent, but their quali pace is dreadful.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
18th September 2024, 13:38
They apparently used him for blocking Norris too. Hard to blame them, but shows the problem of having basically two teams and for cars working for one driver.
SteveP
18th September 2024, 20:48
What was the risk? Given the precedent of allowing Verstappen to continue on track with a gaping hole in the side pod in a previous season, I would expect equal treatment for any other driver
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
20th September 2024, 0:04
Which already has not happened.