‘I don’t know what they wanted me to do’ – Yuki Tsunoda left unhappy with 10-place grid penalty for Canadian Grand Prix

Despite acknowledging that Tsunoda had been wary of being hit by debris, the stewards deemed “there was no justifiable reason” for the Japanese driver to overtake and handed him the same penalty given to Haas’ Ollie Bearman for the same offence in Monaco.

“The 10-place grid penalty came out of nowhere to be honest, I didn’t even expect to be summoned for that,” said Tsunoda following Qualifying in Montreal, where his P11 finish will see him start the Grand Prix at the back of the grid.

READ MORE: Tsunoda handed 10-place grid drop for Canadian GP after red flag infringement in final practice

“I don’t know what they wanted me to do. Oscar had massive damage in the last corner, I saw him in the back straight driving 80kph, very slow. He was spraying debris everywhere and I saw even the tyre was going sideways so I thought if I keep driving behind, at one point the tyre is going to come off and hit me. You want to avoid that and it’s a very unnecessary situation.

“In the end, he was driving on the far left to obviously avoid causing issues with other drivers which I think he did a very good job and that’s why I went far right, with a clear view.

“I obviously checked there was no car in front, car behind, and I overtook him 170kph which is like half the speed we normally drive to avoid an unnecessary situation.