"He didn’t punch me": Yuki Tsunoda on Franz Tost's reaction after his collision with Pierre Gasly

Yuki Tsunoda recently shared how AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost reacted to his collision with his then-teammate Pierre Gasly at the 2022 F1 British GP.

Tsunoda accidentally spun while overtaking Gasly on lap 14, which resulted in a collision between the two drivers. Although there was no major damage and both cars continued racing, Gasly had to eventually retire due to issues caused by the crash.

Speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Tsunoda recalled how Tost spoke to him after the race. He jokingly stated that Tost did not punch him, but raised his voice and scolded him in his office.

The Japanese driver said:

"He didn’t punch me, of course! The voice was definitely higher than usual. First of all, when I was in the engineer room, he said, 'Yuki, come to my office. Why did you do such a stupid thing?'"

Tsunoda also revealed that he and Tost were in the same car and flight while traveling back to Italy from Silverstone. Of course, it was quite hard for the Japanese driver to travel with his boss, especially after what had happened in the race. He recalled:

"Unfortunately, on the way back to Italy, we were on the same flight and we were sitting next to each other. And on the way to the airport from Silverstone, we were in the same car. It was a long, long journey and that was definitely something I want to forget. But they are things I have to remember for the future to improve myself."

Despite these mistakes, Yuki Tsunoda has impressed Franz Tost quite a lot. Tost has praised him and believes he is on the right track to get a seat in Red Bull.

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Pierre Gasly still has a strong relationship with Yuki Tsunoda

Almost everyone in the F1 paddock and fanbase knows how close Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsuoda are. Although they only drove alongside each other for two years, both considered each other brothers off the track.

Despite racing for rival outfits now, Gasly continues to maintain a strong connection with Tsunoda. He revealed that they spent some time together during the 2022–23 winter break.

"You know what? I've seen him over the winter so it doesn't feel like we really 'broke up'," Gasly said. "I was training in Dubai for a few weeks and he came there so we had a nice dinner together and a couple of training, and played some football games. I brought him to the karting track and we actually did a lot when we think about it. I've seen him a lot, so no great guy and I'll see him in three weeks."

Gasly and Tsunoda were teammates at AlphaTauri during the 2021 and 2022 seasons before the Frenchman joined childhood friend and rival Esteban Ocon at Alpine ahead of the 2023 campaign.