Tsunoda might have had a few harsher words to say to Hulkenberg if their paths crossed post-race, after the German tried an optimistic move down the inside of the RB a few laps later, locking up and clattering into his rival, sending Tsunoda skewing off track and eventually out of the race.
“The damage to the floor is just too much and yeah, undrivable, the damage was too big to keep racing, that’s the main thing,” the Japanese star said afterwards.
READ MORE: Magnussen banned for Azerbaijan Grand Prix after being penalised for Gasly clash in Monza
“I haven’t seen the replay, but for sure I saw him locking up into Turn 1 and I tried to escape and tried to give the space as much as possible but he just crashed into me so the race was pretty much, that was it – so an unnecessary move from him.”
It was a double blow for RB, as Tsunoda’s car was fitted with the only set of upgrades – thus the team were bereft not just of his presence in the race, but of any data on how those new parts fared around the Temple of Speed.
It also continued Tsunoda’s poor luck at Monza, following on from his failure to start last year, meaning he has only seen the chequered flag once from four appearances here.
