In the round-up: Yuki Tsunoda apologised for spoiling one of Pierre Gasly’s qualifying laps after both drivers failed to reach Q3 in Melbourne.
Tsunoda apologised to AlphaTauri team mate Gasly for compromising one of his hot laps in Q2.
Tsunoda made a mistake at turn 11, running wide onto the gravel and bringing out a brief yellow flag. Gasly came across the scene on his hot lap and had to take avoiding action, ultimately abandoning his run.
“Fucking hell, Yuki,” Gasly exclaimed in reaction on the radio before beginning his final run. He and Tsunoda failed to make the cut for Q3.
“Between Q1 and Q2 I lost complete performance from the car,” Tsunoda explained. “Just completely different and we struggled to adapt it and went outside.
“I’m sorry for Pierre, but also the same time, I just also struggled a lot to control the car.”
Carlos Sainz Jnr says he is conscious that Ferrari are lacking in experience of fighting for titles in recent years.
Ferrari currently lead the constructors’ championship after two rounds, with Sainz’s team mate Charles Leclerc on top of the drivers’ standings and starting on pole for today’s Australian Grand Prix. Sainz says that he is remaining cautious about the team’s prospects for the season despite their strong start.
“We keep saying that Red Bull and Mercedes are the favourites, because we haven’t been in a title fight in the last few years,” said Sainz.
“In the previous years, these teams have out-developed Ferrari, so we are still super cautious, because we know we have a great car and we have put together on track a great car – but these two teams have been in the title fight for the last two or three years, they know how much you need to improve, they know exactly what they need to do. And we maybe, are lacking that bit of experience. I think we have great people, and we are prepared – but we don’t know. So, we are still cautious and are expecting a bit to see what happens.”
Andretti Formula E driver Jake Dennis, who received a five-second time penalty for contact with Antonio Felix da Costa during the first Rome race, said driving standards are being inconsistently enforced in Formula E.
“There’s just so much contact in the race and it seems like you can get away with almost anything unless you make the position,” explained Dennis. “You can smash into people and if you both come out the corner in the same position then they don’t do anything, but if one of you gains a position or loses a position then you get a penalty.
Dennis was particularly critical of several drivers he considered repeat offenders. “You’ve got people moving into braking five or six times in the super difficult bump at turn seven and it takes so much skill from the driver behind not to just rear-end the guy in front. But if he did, if the car behind did hit him and knocked him off, he would get the penalty, which is just stupid.”
Quotes: Hazel Southwell
Mercedes Formula E driver Nyck de Vries says he was simply “trying to hang on” as he fell from as high as second in the first Rome EPrix down to ninth before retiring.
De Vries started from third on the grid and was competitive in the early stages, battling with team mate Stoffel Vandoorne and the other cars around him. However, from mid-race De Vries slipped down the order, ultimately retiring in the final minutes with bent steering
“Ultimately, when you don’t have the pace, you’re trying to hang on,” De Vries said. “Then the real effect is only visible from kind of mid-race onwards because then the energy [saving] starts to hurt you, the tyre temperature starts to hurt you and everything is just magnified a little bit more,
“We were not quick enough and we were trying to hang on, but ultimately that was not enough, that is a kind of short summary of our day.”
Quotes: Hazel Southwell
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