“Never do good unless you are prepared for ingratitude.” This is one of the most famous phrases attributed to Enzo Ferrari, but it could easily describe the situation experienced by Yuki Tsunoda at the end of qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix. But let’s go in order.
The Japanese of the AlphaTauri, during the final stages of Q3, deliberately covered part of the escape route at the second sector of the track to leave more space for the cars that followed him – the Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen – maneuver that, in fact, led the Mexican to go long and the Dutch to make too many mistakes in that area of the track, mistakes that cost a lot of time trial in hand.
The Team Principal of the Milton Keynes team, Christian Horner, is fully aware of this and does not use soft words towards the AlphaTauri driver. “Both Max and Checo were on their last attempt and both were improving: Verstappen by two and a half tenths, Perez by almost two,” Horner told Sky Sport F1.
“I really don’t understand why Tsunoda was walking around that part of the track. It’s something that makes me angry, because his action ruined the qualification of both riders, both Max and Sergio didn’t take it well. “
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT02
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
“Let’s look at the glass half full: we are still in the second row and we can have a good race starting from this position”, continues Horner.
A mockery in no uncertain terms for Red Bull, which started from what on paper should have been a one-way qualification and which instead turns out to be a poisoned apple served by a driver competing for the “satellite team” of the Milton Keynes stable.
Until the end of the third Free Practice session, Verstappen and Perez seemed to be from another planet with respect to Mercedes, reaching a gap of more than half a second in the W12s of Hamilton and Bottas. And the result just doesn’t seem to go down to Horner, according to the public’s accusations against Tsunoda.
Starting in the second row, for the two RB16Bs, can prove to be a double-edged sword: it is true that the stretch to be covered up to the braking of turn 1 is eternal, but it is clear how Mercedes does the first sector and its maximum speed. strengths for the Mexican appointment. Horner is fully aware of this.
“Mercedes has always been very, very fast. We already saw that yesterday, they fixed what could have been weaknesses for us. We underperformed in Q3, but the fight is going to be really close. Their top speed is incredibly fast. high, and that’s what’s going to make things difficult, ”Horner concludes.
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