The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was over before the first lap came to an end for Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly, with the two drivers making contact in Turn 4.

While both drivers were quick to deem the crash a racing incident, they were both deeply disappointed by the result of what promised to be a strong race from the top 10.

Tsunoda and Gasly react to the ‘racing incident’ that killed a promising Saudi Arabian GP

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The first lap of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix saw plenty of drama up and down the grid. From the first row, polesitter Max Verstappen went head to head with the McLaren of Oscar Piastri, neither driver willing to cede even a centimeter of track to the other.

Verstappen cut the track to keep his position, netting himself a five-second penalty in the process. But it was an incident behind the front row that caused a safety car at the start of the race.

Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly made contact in a crash that both drivers hailed as a ‘racing incident,’ albeit a hugely disappointing one for two drivers who desperately needed to capitalize on their top-1o start.

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“I had a good run in Turn 4, very good braking because [Tsunoda] was kind of stuck behind Carlos, so I managed to get out of him in the braking zone,” Gasly explained to media, including PlanetF1.com, after retiring from the event.

“I left him as much space as possible to make sure we both mad it through the corner, and unfortunately, it looked like he understeered off and had this contact,” he continued.

Though the contact was “quite small,” per the Alpine driver, but it was enough to “send the car straight into the wall.

“The incident itself, it’s racing.”

Yuki Tsunoda had come to the same conclusion, telling assembled media that he couldn’t blame Gasly.

“It’s not like he turned into me completely,” the Red Bull Racing driver explained.

“At the same time, we knew that that’s the tightest corner in this track, and to go side-by-side, based on our experience, we know what’s gonna happen in the first lap.

“And obviously for myself, I was feeling controlled. I was carrying a lot of speed and lost the control; I was right behind Carlos. It’s not like I was going to just crash into him.

“I did as much as I could to avoid him, but unfortunately, just the tightest corner on the track, less grip on the first lap; we should take it a step slightly more cautious, I guess.”

As former teammates on Red Bull’s sister team, both drivers expressed some frustration that it was a friend they made contact with, though for Tsunoda’s part, he would “do the same” should he have had an opportunity to do the restart over — even though he wished it wasn’t Gasly that he’d hit.

Gasly, too, said he “knew [Tsunoda’s] intentions. I know there’s a huge respect between Yuki and myself, so I know it didn’t mean anything bad. It’s more sort of judgement; first lap, cold tires… at the end, we all fight for our race.

“It just feels like we could have taken slightly more margin, but at the same time, despite that, it’s motorsport, for a track like this unfortunately can happen.”

Both drivers are in the throes of a tight championship fight at the moment, Gasly with six points and Tsunoda with five. Alpine will be hoping to assert its dominance as the best of the midfield pack, and Red Bull Racing has already initiated a driver swap in an effort to snatch as much performance as possible.

Further, both will have been hoping for a good result simply to gain momentum in a season that has started off on shaky footing for both outfits.

From eighth and ninth on the starting grid, Tsunoda and Gasly finished the Saudi Arabian GP 19th and 20th, respectively.

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