Formula One drivers tend to lose their heads at times due to high adrenaline, and quite understandably the FIA has, in most cases, ignored such incidents. For instance, in 2018, Lewis Hamilton was publicly called out by the media for using the word “d**khead” on the team radio, but almost immediately Sebastian Vettel came to the seven-time world champion’s rescue, defending his outburst and dissecting the reason behind using such slurs. Furthermore, the FIA was least bothered by the incident and refused to investigate it.
Hence, the entire motorsport community is used to seeing F1 drivers hurling cuss words at other drivers or even their own teams. Amidst such leniency over drivers cussing, what did Yuki Tsunoda really do to suffer such hefty punishments? Well, the Japanese driver got himself into a heap of trouble after one of his infamous outbursts during the qualifying session at the Austrian Grand Prix. Here’s what provoked Tsunoda to lose his head.
🚨 | Yuki Tsunoda has been fined €40,000 for his earlier radio comments containing offensive language.#F1 #AustriaGP pic.twitter.com/SD4EdQ7s9a
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) June 29, 2024
During the first part of qualifying at Red Bull Ring, the cars were lining up in the pit lane for their final runs. However, just as Tsunoda found himself in the middle of the queue, Guanyu Zhou decided to overtake Tsunoda in the pit lane, which left the RB driver absolutely fuming. What followed was an angry team radio message from the 24-year-old.
Sadly for Tsunoda, he succumbed to the rage and ended up letting a very offensive word slip out of his tongue. He said, “These guys are f***ing retarded,” most likely directed at Zhou among other drivers. An investigation was immediately launched, and the FIA summoned Tsunoda to meet the stewards after the session.
Yuki Tsunoda deemed guilty despite issuing an apology
During the meeting with the stewards, Tsunoda confessed that he was completely unaware of what the word really meant and was “horrified” upon realisation, considering English is not his primary language. Furthermore, he also issued an apology to the FIA, but, in the end, the stewards decided to impose €40,000 on the VCARB driver. Here’s Tsunoda’s public apology after the Austrian GP controversy:
“Hello, I wanted to say big apologies what I said in the radio today. Obviously I didn’t use it intentionally and was completely misunderstanding from myself that exact meaning of it. I now have better understanding for what the word means and am very apologetic for what I said. This type of language has no place and is not tolerated and for that I am sorry.”
Overall, this is not the first time Tsunoda has locked horns with another driver. Prior to Zhou, the Japanese driver also went after his own teammate after VCARB brought in team orders to favour a much faster Daniel Ricciardo at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix. However, the question is, could the latest shenanigans finally put an end to his infamous radio outbursts?
Sara Chavan