Racing
© Hans
Yuki Tsunoda’s first Formula 1 race in eight months ended one place outside the points at the Dutch Grand Prix after a Turn 13 mistake erased his advantage over Pierre Gasly while he was running ninth.
The Racing Bulls driver started 12th in a sprint-format weekend that had limited his preparation, but moved into the top 10 by lap nine and stayed in the thick of the midfield points battle. When Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jr. made pit stops, Tsunoda climbed to ninth by lap 37.
His strongest moment came on lap 29 against Alpine’s Gasly. Tsunoda attacked his rival and the pair ran side-by-side through several corners before Tsunoda completed the pass. Formula 1’s official live commentary hailed it as “Tsunoda has dispatched Gasly. A fantastic, fantastic overtake from the super-sub.”
Tsunoda appeared set to preserve a points position until lap 44, when he ran wide at Turn 13 immediately before making his second stop. He had held a margin of more than seven seconds over Gasly, but the error cost him substantial time. After the pit stop, he rejoined behind Alonso and with his buffer over Gasly almost gone.
Gasly reclaimed 10th on lap 57 after the virtual safety car phase, leaving Tsunoda to chase on soft tyres that had already covered 24 laps. He could not regain the position over the final stages of the 72-lap race, running 3.6 seconds behind Gasly by lap 68 before finishing 11th.
Despite missing out on a point, Tsunoda’s run from 12th to a sustained fight inside the top 10 gave him a competitive return to F1 action. During the weekend, he said of his effort to remain on the 2027 grid: “It’s definitely better having this opportunity than not having any opportunity, not being able to show what I can do with this regulation. So I think that this was overall positive.”