Verstappen admitted he couldn't believe Tsunoda was ok after massive crash

18:23, 17 May

byNorberto Mujica

Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen and George Russell were all asked if Yuki Tsunoda's crash played in their minds for the rest of the qualifying session, and this is what they answered.

It was very big hit as the car became decompressed due to the amount of kerb Tsunoda took. He was launched into the wall on the outside of Turn 6 and his car rolled on his side before smashing focefully back onto the ground.

On the Japanese driver's crash, Piastri admit it was 'hard not looking at it,' when speaking to media like GPblog after qualifying.

"I mean, not really [it didn't play in his mind afterwards]. Obviously, when there's a shunt that big, it's hard to not kind of look at it. But I think generally in racing and a lot of things in life, when you start to second guess or doubt what you're doing, that's when things go wrong. And you need to commit, especially on a track like this."

"So yeah, of course, you probably think about it a little bit, but by the time you get to the corner, you're back in the groove of doing what you've done the rest of the weekend."

Verstappen was shocked at Tsunoda's heavy crash out of Turn 5

When Verstappen was informed he immediately asked if Tsunoda was okay, but after seeing the replay of the accident, he was shocked that the Japanese came out of the RB21 unscathed.

"Well, of course I asked if he's OK. I heard, 'yeah, he's OK', but then I saw the replay. I'm like, 'Jesus, is he really OK?' Yeah, it was a big impact, a lot of damage as well. But yeah, most important is that Yuki is OK. I'll probably see him, of course, in a bit."

For the P3 placed man George Russell, he shared Verstappen's sentiment about Tsunoda being well, and highlighted the build of the cars, whilst dismissing any thoughts that might hinder their competitive performance.

"It's great to see that he's okay and with a crash like that, it shows how impressive these cars are in a situation like that."

"But I think for all of us, once the helmet's on, the visor's down, you have to get cracking and you've got to take anything like that out of your mind."