Formula 1’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has seen a safety car intervention after just one lap due to a collision between Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda, while polesitter Max Verstappen was penalised.
Starting in eighth and ninth respectively, Tsunoda and Gasly tangled at Turn 4 as Gasly attempted to pass the Red Bull driver around the outside.
Tsunoda’s front-right corner made contact with Gasly’s left rear in what appeared to be a classic first-lap racing incident. The touch punted the Frenchman’s Alpine into the barriers, ending his race on the spot and bringing out the safety car.
Tsunoda limped back to the pits but he too had to abandon the race due to excessive damage to his car’s right-hand side.
Up front Verstappen defended his lead against McLaren’s Oscar Piastri into Turn 1 but only by going off track, with Piastri feeling the Dutchman should have given back the position.
Despite Verstappen and Red Bull feeling they were in the right, the stewards decided to handle Verstappen a five-second penalty, with the world champion responding “that is f***ing lovely” on the team radio.
