Oscar Piastri reveals he was unfazed by Yuki Tsunoda’s scary crash at the 2025 Emilia Romagna GP as he quickly got back into the zone to secure pole position in Imola, whilst Max Verstappen admits he was left shocked by the shunt.
The Japanese Red Bull ace lost control at the Variante Villeneuve and quickly totalled his RB21 as he headed off through the gravel, his car flipping over and crashing into the catch-fencing.
The roll hoop then pushed him back upright and he climbed out of the car completely healthy in what is a huge testament to the modern standards of the sport, established following the death of Ayrton Senna at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in 1994.
The huge crash left mechanics in the Red Bull garage shocked as immediate fears rushed to know if Tsunoda was injured, but he was okay and for Piastri, it was back to business as he reveals he was unfazed by the moment.
“I mean, not really,” Piastri told media, including Total-Motorsport.com, of if the crash had a lasting impact. “Obviously, when there’s a shunt that big, it’s hard to not look at it.
“But I think generally in racing, and in a lot of things in life, when you start to second guess or doubt what you’re doing, that’s when things go wrong. You need to commit, especially on a track like this.
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“So, 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 reveals shock at Tsunoda’s 2025 Emilia Romagna GP crash
Piastri did go on to rebound quite nicely by securing pole position by 0.020 on Saturday, May 17, giving him control of Sunday’s 2025 Emilia Romagna GP, at a location where track position is crucial.
Proving he shrugged off the incident in little time at all, he starts ahead of Verstappen, who admitted he had a far more emotional reaction than the 23-year-old Australian when he saw the size of the accident for his teammate.
“Well, first, of course, I asked if he’s OK,” Verstappen told media, including Total-Motorsport.com. “And I heard yeah, he’s OK. But then I saw the replay; I’m like, ‘Jesus, is he really OK?’”
“It was a big impact, a lot of damage as well. But the most important is that Yuki is okay. I’ll probably see him in a bit.”
Tsunoda will likely take a pit lane start on May 18 considering the scale of damage to his RB21 and inevitable worries regarding gearbox damage after the car flipped upside down.
If he doesn’t, then he will begin from 20th on the grid and finds himself tasked with a mammoth recovery job if he aims to get back into the good books of Helmut Marko and Christian Horner before the Formula 1 weekend concludes.
