Senior Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has said Japanese F1 rookie Yuki Tsunoda made a “stupid mistake” in qualifying for the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix because he was “cocky.”
Tsunoda started the race from the back of the grid after he crashed out in the first segment of qualifying because he was pushing too hard.
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He made his way into the points after having a strong first half of the race on Sunday, but he made another mistake following the restart which resulted in him losing several positions and left him down in P12 at the chequered flag.
Commenting on Tsunoda’s performance at Imola, Dr Marko said: “He was simply cocky.
“Yuki had a fast car and it would definitely have been good enough for the Q3.
“Yuki had very strong sector times in the very first lap. But in the very first lap of qualifying there’s no point having an amazing lap.
“It was just a stupid mistake and you can’t make it any smaller than it already is. I spoke to Yuki after the race, he was totally apologetic,” he added.
For his part, Tsunoda said making two big mistakes in the space of two days is unacceptable.
“Doing mistakes two days in a row. For me? Not acceptable. Really not acceptable,” Tsundoa said.
“I just learn from it this time, but just improve next time.”
The Japanese F1 rookie had a much stronger weekend in Bahrain, though he failed to make it into Q3 due to the team gambling on him being able to get out of Q2 without using the soft-compound tyre.
He finished his debut F1 grand prix in P9 and pulled off several great overtakes as he worked his way up the order, earning plaudits from many in the paddock.
READ: Schumacher Criticises Bottas For Lack Of Pace & Bad Attitude Following Imola Crash