Tsunoda blames Ocon for costing him top-eight finish

Yuki Tsunoda places full blame on Esteban Ocon for their first-lap collision in France, Tsunoda ultimately forced to retire.

While Pierre Gasly struggled to extract full performance from the upgraded AlphaTauri during qualifying at his home race, Tsunoda had no such troubles, securing P8 on the grid.

But after Alpine driver Ocon sent Tsunoda into a spin at the Mistral chicane, all of that work was undone, Tsunoda saying that the resulting damage meant that he had to retire the car later in the race.

The stewards deemed Ocon responsible for the incident, handing out a five-second time penalty. Tsunoda very much agreed with the stewards.

Tsunoda spins after contact with Ocon: pic.twitter.com/CZR9mOVgkr

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“The damage was increasing lap by lap, I could feel it clearly when I’m driving,” Tsunoda told reporters at Paul Ricard.

“And also I think for the collision what I had in Turn 8, I think I gave enough space to Esteban, I watched back the onboard and there was clearly room. He lost control in the entry and he smashed into me.

“So looking at the race, I think top eight was possible, so really a shame what happened today.”

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But, with the upgraded AT03 seemingly working very well, it was put to Tsunoda that there are positive signs going into the Hungarian Grand Prix next weekend.

The Japanese racer though