Yuki Tsunoda was “horrified” and has apologised after the Visa Cash App RB F1 Team driver was fined €40,000 by race officials for using ableist language during qualifying for the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday.
After some back and forth with race engineer Mattia Spini during the first qualifying segment, Tsunoda was called to meet with race officials after the qualifying session, where he waited in the RB01 while the cars queued up for Q1. shouted over the team radio. “[t]”Those guys are shit,” Spini said, to which Spini simply replied, “Yuuki, don’t worry. Don’t worry. We have plenty of time.”
When Tsunoda met with race officials, he apologized for his comments and explained that as English is not his native language, he did not fully understand their meaning. According to the ruling The statement from the race officials violates Article 12.2.1.k) of the International Sporting Code, stating:
“[d]During the hearing, the driver was very apologetic and explained that as English is not his first language he did not know the meaning of the words used in English until the end of the session. He said he was horrified when he found out. He claimed he had understood the words differently but accepted that this should not be seen as an excuse for his actions.
In their ruling, race officials said they appreciated Tsunoda’s “sincerity” but that the penalty was appropriate to “highlight the fact that the language used was offensive and completely inappropriate.”
“The Stewards appreciate the driver’s honesty but emphasise the fact that the language used was offensive and totally inappropriate. The use of such language on a platform available to the public amounts to misconduct as defined in Article 20 of the International Sporting Code,” the ruling read.
However, officials took Tsunoda’s “sincere remorse” into account and waived part of the fine. “Taking into account the circumstances, the scrutiny committee determined that a severe fine was necessary, but also took into account the driver’s sincere remorse and offer of a public apology, and for these reasons decided to waive part of the imposed fine,” the scrutiny committee continued.
According to the decision, half of the fine, 20,000 euros, will be suspended until the end of the season unless Tsunoda repeats the same offence.
The driver has publicly apologized on all his social media channels, authorities said in a statement.
Hello. I would like to sincerely apologize for something I said on the radio today. Obviously, I did not use it intentionally and I completely misunderstood its exact meaning. I now have a better understanding of what the word means and I am very sorry for what I said. …
— Yuki Tsunoda (@yukitsunoda07) June 29, 2024
Tsunoda is scheduled to start from 14th place in Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.
