RB driver Yuki Tsunoda has been handed a fine over an ableist remark that he made towards another competitor during qualifying at Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Tsunoda and an RB team representative were called to the FIA stewards at 20:00 local time regarding a comment the driver made over team radio in the Q1 segment.
The Japanese driver was incensed when Sauber’s Guanyu Zhou got ahead in the pit lane as the cars queued and appeared to state: “These guys are f***ing retarded”.
Tsunoda’s alleged comment was reported to the stewards and an investigation was opened to assess whether he had breached the FIA’s International Sporting Code.
Several hours later it has been announced that Tsunoda’s been hit with a €40,000, €20,000 to be suspended for the rest of the season, over “inappropriate comments”.
According to the stewards’ report, Tsunoda was “apologetic” as he also explained that he was unaware about the term’s meaning as English is not his main language.
Tsunoda proceeded to mention he was “horrified” once he was informed and acknowledged that his reasoning should “not be considered as an excuse” for his action.
But although the stewards took those factors into account, the contingent deemed the words to be both “offensive and inappropriate” and a breach of Article 12.2.1.k.
The incident has been compared to when Max Verstappen called Lance Stroll a “retard” and a “mongol” during a practice session at the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix.
However, the FIA elected not to discipline the Dutchman over his comments, which prompted Mongolia’s Ambassador to the UN to request that an apology be made.
Mercedes and Ferrari team bosses Toto Wolff and Frederic Vasseur were warned at last season’s Las Vegas Grand Prix for swear words used in a press conference.
