Yuki Tsunoda suffered a frustrating conclusion to Friday practice after crashing his Red Bull in the closing stages of FP2.
And it is an incident which has been analysed in greater detail by three-time IndyCar race winner Kyle Kirkwood, who has uncovered a design quirk of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit wall whacked by Tsunoda which he believes instigates the crash.
Yuki Tsunoda Saudi GP crash: Wall design to blame?
Contesting his third Grand Prix with Red Bull in Saudi Arabia after stepping up as the replacement for Liam Lawson, Tsunoda’s race weekend took a hit – along with his Red Bull RB21 – when he struck the inside wall at the final corner, breaking the front-left steering arm and sending him into the opposite wall.
An incident which played out in the blink of an eye after that small misjudgement, Kirkwood analysed the footage in greater depth and discovered ‘many sharp joints’ in the construction of that wall, believing he has found the answer therefore to what halted Tsunoda.
Writing on X, Kirkwood posted: “Would like to point out, If you look closely, you can tell the corner is made up of 10ft(ish) flat walls that have many sharp joints where they connect.
“He [Tsunoda] happened to hit one of the joints perfectly.
“If this was a smooth wall or hits in a flat portion, this likely isn’t a crash.”
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Tsunoda apologised to his Red Bull team following the incident.
“Just turning too much and clipped the inside wall and just had damage,” he reflected.
“After that, just no control. Apologies to the team; pace was looking good, so it’s a shame.”
And the Red Bull’s senior advisor Helmut Marko provided some comfort by declaring that the 24-year-old just got unlucky.
“On the single lap, he was driving with a different setup on purpose to see which direction to go,” Marko revealed to the media, including PlanetF1.com.
“I think that was unlucky he hit the wall on the inside, and then he was just a passenger. I hope it’s not too much damage. The speed is okay. The crash is unlucky.”
With Tsunoda’s incident bringing an end to the competitive FP2 running, he ended the session P6, four-tenths and three positions behind Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen.
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