In the round-up: Yuki Tsunoda says he is penalised more often than other drivers.
In brief
Tsunoda says Russell move wasn’t “aggressive”
Tsunoda was given a five-second time penalty, and two endorsement points on his licence, for tangling with George Russell when the Mercedes driver passed him on the outside of turn one during the race.
“Russell was ahead of Tsunoda at the braking point, but Tsunoda appeared to brake a little later,” the stewards noted. “Tsunoda was on the dirty inside line and having braked later he then understeered into Russell. The stewards determined that Tsunoda was predominantly at fault for the collision.”
The AlphaTauri driver disagreed with the penalty and wasn’t convinced he’d made contact with the Mercedes. “I mean, that’s racing,” he said. “I didn’t feel like it was aggressive. I don’t think we touched in the end. But I’m the one who always gets penalties.”
Magnussen drops to 16th
Kevin Magnussen fell to 16th place in the final classification as he was given a five-second time penalty for falling more than 10 car lengths behind the car ahead of him at the final restart. The stewards noted he did so on multiple occasions as he tried to warm his tyres.
He was not given any endorsement points on his licence. The stewards pointed out penalty points are no longer given for incidents which are not considered dangerous.
“Previously during Safety Car procedures, drivers have been awarded penalty points when not following 10 car lengths behind each other during the safety car,” they noted. “However this was during the safety car procedures when marshals and rescue personnel were on track and the penalty was issued under Art. 55.7 of the [Sporting Regulations], and is considered potentially dangerous, which is the reason behind penalty points.
“This case occurred during the race resumption and while there was a sporting consequence, there was no question of this being dangerous and therefore the stewards award no penalty points.”
Prema fined after wheels fall off Vesti’s car
Prema have been fined for unsafely releasing Frederik Vesti during Formula 2’s feature race in Zandvoort on Sunday. The Mercedes junior pitted on lap 11 but both rear tyres fell off on his out-lap at turn five.
Prema explained “the normal indicators of a successful wheel installation were not available to the team”, because the green light on the rear wheel guns was on “throughout the service”. The stewards fined Prema €2,000 (£1,700).
Novalak “chuffed to bits” with maiden win
Clement Novalak admitted he’s struggled to adapt to Formula 2 after clinching his debut victory in the series at Zandvoort on Sunday. It was the Trident driver’s second points finish of the season, and only Novalak’s second podium since making his F2 debut in 2021 – his other also coming at Zandvoort last year.
“We’ve struggled this year and to be honest I’ve not really adapted well to Formula 2, so it’s a very good feeling,” said Novalak. “It’s been a long time and I’m chuffed to bits to come away with the win.”
Novalak started 13th on the grid and profited from a well-timed pit stop and rivals’ retirements.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Drivers and team’s quotes after the race (AlphaTauri)
Guilherme Dezotoux, head of vehicle performance: ‘As for Liam (Lawson), he did a very good job today, learning about the car and adapting to the conditions, which were constantly evolving. He made no mistakes and was able to build up the pace on dry tyres, which he was driving on for the first time in our car.’
Alessandro Alunni Bravi: ‘This race marks the end of a difficult weekend for the team. We were not competitive in qualifying or the race, and this was the key element on which we will need to focus.’
The Debrief: Dutch GP (Aston Martin)
‘It is a shame we did not optimise the race for Lance and the decision to remain on dry tyres in the early stages cost him a chance of scoring points.’
Guenther Steiner: ‘I think we got right what we could, we steered clear of unforced errors in some tricky conditions. Our dry pace is not good enough at the moment however, but I think we got out as much as we could from the race – that is where we are right now.’
Four points scored in tricky conditions at Zandvoort (Williams)
Dave Robson, head of vehicle performance: ‘The team did an excellent job to repair Logan’s car overnight and it was a shame that he was unable to finish the race. We are still investigating the cause of his DNF, but he suffered with a loss of hydraulics.’
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it to us via the contact form.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Malibu_Gp!
On this day in motorsport
- 40 years ago today Rene Arnoux scored his final win in the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort for Ferrari. McLaren’s TAG Porsche engine also made its race debut
