Tsunoda apologises to AlphaTauri for post-qualifying comments about F1 car

Tsunoda was heard venting his frustrations over team radio after a surprise Q1 elimination in qualifying in Barcelona before he questioned the performance of his own AlphaTauri car in relation to teammate Pierre Gasly’s.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 while qualifying while still ongoing, Tsunoda said: “It’s always different feedback compared to my team-mate, both sides are opposite.

“So, I have a little bit of a question mark: is it the same car?

“Obviously it is the same car, but the character of the car is too different. Maybe of course it is just a driving style, but yeah, I don’t know why I was struggling this much.”

The 20-year-old Japanese driver later apologised for his comments in a social media post on Saturday evening.

“I wanted to apologise for my comments today,” he wrote on Twitter. “I didn’t mean to criticise the team who have done a great job all weekend. I was just frustrated with my performance.”

In a separate post on his Instagram account, Tsunoda added: “I am very fortunate to have a group of such talented and hardworking people working on my car and wanted to apologise to the team for my comments today.

“I couldn’t maximise the potential of the car and was frustrated with myself. Tonight, I will analyse the data with my engineers and make sure to improve for tomorrow.”

Tsunoda will line up from 16th on the grid for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, while Gasly starts 12th.