Throughout his career Yuki Tsunoda he was often betrayed by his nervousness, especially due to some less than diplomatic comments made over the radio. Even in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, the Japanese driver from Racing Bulls once again made this type of mistake which literally cost him dearly.
The episode occurred at the exit of the pit lane during Q1, at a time when Guanyu Zhou entered the fast lane just in front of the #22. A maneuver that sent Daniel Ricciardo’s teammate into a rage, who, opening the team radio, insulted the Chinese driver by defining “these kids are f****** retards”.
A comment that did not go unnoticed by the Race Direction, who decided to intervene. After listening to the driver and the team representatives, Tsunoda was fined for 40,000 eurosof which 20,000 are suspended on condition that no further incidents of a similar nature occur. During the hearing, the pilot apologized for the incident, stating that he did not realize he had used such offensive language as English is not his native language.
“The Stewards appreciate the honesty of the driver – reads the FIA press release – but they point out that the words used are offensive and completely inappropriate. Having used such words on one
platform available to the public was misconduct as defined in Article 20 of the International Sports Code. Given the circumstances, the Stewards determine that a severe fine is necessary, but also take into account the driver’s genuine remorse and his offer to issue a public apology and for these reasons
decide to suspend part of the fine imposed.”
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