AlphaTauri drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly react to scoring the same amount of points on ESPN's longest drive challenge during preparation day for F1 at Circuit of the Americas on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. Formula One Mlc 00179 Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly Discuss the Race-Ending Collision in Jeddah

Originally posted on F1 on SI | By Nelson Espinal | Last updated Apr 22, 2025 7:27 AM ET

Former teammates Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda collided during the first lap of the race at Turn 4 in Jeddah, resulting in both drivers not finishing the race.

The Red Bull of Tsunoda started on the grid in P8, while Gasly's Alpine started in P9, which consequently meant the two would square off in the first couple of turns.

Right before the crash, Gasly went around the outside of Tsunoda, but Yuki ended up clipping the rear tire of the Alpine, leading to a collision between both cars.

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Gasly smashed into the wall, sustaining terminal damage right away, while Tsunoda managed to continue for a while before eventually retiring from the grand prix.

There was no further action from the FIA regarding the collision, with it seemingly being chalked up as a racing incident.

Tsunoda with 0 space here. Nothing he could do. Responsibility is on the driver that is doing maneuver. Gasly couldn't expect that Yuki will just disappear from here. I don't know if stewards will take it as a 1st lap racing incident but surely its not Tsunoda's fault here. pic.twitter.com/J1AVEi6nDg
— XI.V.MM™ (@adonustikuy) April 20, 2025

After the race concluded, Tsunoda felt that neither party was truly to blame.

“It’s hard to blame either me or Pierre,” Tsunoda told reporters after the race.

“I’ve done as much as I can to avoid it."

“I was fully in control in terms of speed and I was not, like, almost crashing into the car in front, which was Carlos [Sainz]."

“I was fully in control and I tried to avoid as much as I can, to not hit Pierre, especially that probably it is the most-tight corner of this track."

“It is a shame how it ended up. You could say there was space but from my point of view I had no space and I tried to slow down to avoid it.”

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Gasly also offered a similar perspective, not offering much in terms of bitterness about his race ending early.

“There’s no need to say too much about it. I know him," Gasly said.

“It was never intentional but on my side, I had a good line coming into Turn 4, I could brake quite late and try and leave as much space as I could on the outside of Turn 4."

“So I already have the car pass the white line."

“I had to keep my two wheels inside the track to make sure the pass was done."

“I mean, at the end of the day, it’s a tiny touch, but it’s just a shame it’s put a stop to both of our races.”

Yuki Tsunoda is back to the pits but his team retires the car

Pierre Gasly is also out of the race#F1 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/1Z3mbYn4qg
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 20, 2025