Trouble for Tsunoda: 'Quite a lot of damage'

Yuki Tsunoda is not having his best weekend of the season. The Japanese rider ended up in the gravel trap during the first free practice, of which he is still suffering a few hours later.

The young driver crashed into the wall in turn four at the end of free practice, sending the rear of the car crashing hard into the wall. The team then had fears that Tsunoda would have a lot of damage to his car, which eventually proved to be true.

"New gearbox and new rear-end for AlphaTauri," Sky Sports listed the problems for Tsunoda. "They are only hoping to get him out towards the end of the session. Quite a lot of damage and it's taking a long time to prepare. Because it's a huge part of race preparation, it's not a clean weekend for Tsunoda."

The talented Japanese driver's performance with his team has been mixed for the time being. Whereas he immediately secured two points in Bahrain, he subsequently remained outside the top ten for a number of race weekends. At Silverstone he finished tenth, which brought him up to ten points in the world championship. This puts him in fourteenth place, four points behind Esteban Ocon.