Yuki Tsunoda was reprimanded again at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix for driving to the pits with his seatbelts loosened after stopping on track before resuming his drive.
That was the fifth reprimand of the 2022 Formula 1 season for the Japanese driver, and as four of them were for driving-related offences, the AlphaTauri driver has been penalized 10 positions on the Monza starting grid.
Tsunoda has previously received reprimands for driving unnecessarily slow in Australian GP qualifying, and later for hampering Sebastian Vettel in Australian practice, Charles Leclerc in Bahrain and Kevin Magnussen in Monaco.
On Thursday, the young AlphaTauri driver said it was a shame to receive another reprimand at Zandvoort and was disappointed that most were for free practice offences.
“It’s a shame they booked me. I couldn’t control the situation,” said the Japanese.
“And also, most of the reprimands I got were in the first half of the season, for traffic stuff in free practice, and that rule wasn’t even set.”
“It’s not ideal, of course, but it is what it is anyway. But at least I can restart the reprimand count for the second half of the year,” he concluded.
After the one at the Monaco GP, which was Tsunoda ‘s third reprimand for impeding other drivers in practice, the stewards argued that “it is not usual to impose penalties for impeding during free practice sessions”, but considered that his impeding ” It was serious enough to justify the sanction.
Tsunoda is not the only driver to have received a grid penalty for Italy, as Lewis Hamilton will start from the rear after mounting the fourth power unit in his Mercedes , while Alfa Romeo driver Bottas is in the same situation.
More penalties for the Monza grid could come in the next few hours, as this circuit offers more opportunity for overtaking than the rest of the tracks on the calendar. Sergio Pérez and Carlos Sainz are the main candidates, since both would be evaluating the possibility of setting up the fourth power unit of the campaign.
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