Oliver Bearman accused Yuki Tsunoda of dangerous driving after spinning while trying to pass him in today’s race.
The pair were fighting over seventh place when Bearman tried to pass Tsunoda on the inside of turn 15. The Red Bull driver was already close to the inside of the corner and appeared to move further to the inside as Bearman approached.
Bearman swerved in avoidance and spun across the inside of the corner. The delay prevented him getting past the Red Bull but he was still able to finish ninth.
After the race Bearman was disappointed not to have finished higher. He took eighth place on the road in the sprint race but lost the final points place after receiving a 10-second time penalty for an incident.
“Heading into the weekend, if you told me [I’d be] P9, and P8 in the sprint as well, I would have been very happy,” he told the official Formula 1 channel. “So on the face of it, a good weekend, good points for the team. However it was clear there was more out there today.”
He said Tsunoda crossed a line by changing his line in the braking zone. “What he did was very dangerous, against the spirit of the regulations and against the spirit of going racing, actually.
“This is not how we grow up racing, this is not how we race at this level. Not the way we want to teach people watching, young kids watching how we should be racing because you should not move in reaction to other cars and that’s what I felt that he did.
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“Although I avoided a crash I lost two positions so it’s a big shame. It’s disappointing because there was the possibility of more today, at least eighth if not seventh because clearly I had more pace than him at that stage.”
Bearman said Tsunoda had made risky moves earlier in the weekend, such as when he ran into the back of Isack Hadjar in the sprint race.
“I feel like he’s been doing these desperate moves. In the sprint race he was dive-bombing on the inside, the same in the main race in turn one. So a lot of risk, and I probably should have left a bit more margin for that type of driving.”
The stewards did not investigate the incident. Tsunoda dismissed Bearman’s complaints, saying “I don’t think I’ve done anything extremely wrong.”
“I have to check from his view onboard, obviously how we ended up is unfortunate,” he said. “We were fighting hard and fighting good until then and it’s just unfortunate how we end up like that.”
Pictures: Bearman spins trying to pass Tsunoda
Penalty box
Should the stewards have issued a penalty? Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.
Should Bearman or Tsunoda have faced a penalty for their incident at turn 15?
- No opinion (3%)
- Strong penalty for Tsunoda (26%)
- Light penalty for Tsunoda (40%)
- No penalty for either driver (23%)
- Light penalty for Bearman (3%)
- Strong penalty for Bearman (6%)
Total Voters: 35
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