Yuki Tsunoda Thought He Was Being Called Into The Pits To Retire

Posted on October 24, 2023 | by Charley Williams Oh, Yuki. You know that moment when you think you’re going into the pits to retire the car, but you’re actually going in for a free pit stop and going for the fastest lap? No? Well, Yuki does now ???? Yuki drove a great race at the United States GP after qualifying 11th in Friday’s session. In fact, he’d driven such a great race that he was able to get a free pit stop from there being such a huge gap between him and Alex Albon in P11. So, the team called him in to go for the fastest lap, which, finishing in 10th, meant two precious points for the AlphaTauri team. Those two points then became five points thanks to the disqualifications ahead. However, when the strategy decision was made, Yuki thought he was being pulled into the pits to retire the car! He told the media, including The Race: “To be honest, I had a heart attack when I had to box because I thought it was like an issue from my engine or whatever. “But after I heard we go for fastest lap, then OK, I relieved. But still a bit of pressure on, and we were able to get the fastest lap. So it was good.” Usually we see Max Verstappen doing this kind of thing, but Yuki definitely enjoyed the experience: “Yeah, probably first experience going for fastest lap in the last lap. Super enjoyed it. “Obviously, after a lot of managing the tyres, going into quali mode was kinda… but yeah, at the same time, I enjoyed it. The amount of grip I felt with the low fuel is amazing.” Nice – worth the minor heart attack, then?