AlphaTauri has confirmed the damage that saw Yuki Tsunoda crash out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix Sprint came from contact with teammate Nyck de Vries. The Japanese driver was powerless to keep his AT04 out of the wall lining the Turn 13 kink, with the damage to the wheel rim shedding the right-rear tyre to trigger the Safety Car. After returning to the pits, Tsunoda changed wheels and re-entered the fray only to discover he was carrying suspension damage that would force him to retire from the Sprint and earn the Faenza-based outfit a €5,000 fine for releasing the car in an unsafe condition. Speaking to media, including RacingNews365.com , Tsunoda kept the incident within a shroud of mystery. "I got forced into the wall from some driver. I had contact with a driver and lost my front wing there." Asked who that driver was, he responded: "I can't say here."
But AlphaTauri has confirmed that rookie de Vries was the driver that gave Tsunoda his second session-ending damage of the weekend. "Both cars were racing hard from the start and ended up side by side at the apex of Turn 3," explained Head of Vehicle Performance Guillaume Dezoteux. "Nyck made contact with Yuki's front wing while exiting the corner, and as a result, Yuki understeered into the wall in Turn 13. Unfortunately, the damage to his rear-right end brought an end to his race."
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