Doohan and Tsunoda rue pitlane “mess-up” in F1 Miami SQ1 exits

Yuki Tsunoda and Jack Doohan led complaints about traffic in Formula 1 sprint qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix, which left a handful of drivers unable to set times in the final moments of SQ1.

Tsunoda was distinctly unhappy with traffic afflicting both his sole SQ1 lap and his attempt to set another at the end of the session, as the emergence of Oliver Bearman’s Haas from the pitlane prompted him to slow up on his first lap – tailbacks in the pitlane left the Red Bull driver without enough time to make a second attempt.

Doohan was also caught up in pitlane traffic after failing to put enough lock in the car to make it fully into the fast lane, which left him stranded; he needed his mechanics to pull him back, by which time a series of cars had leapfrogged him in the order to leave the pits.

The Australian felt that the team’s simultaneous release of team-mate Pierre Gasly had blocked him from being able to exit the pits properly. Both drivers were eliminated in Q1, as was Bearman.

Reflecting on the second attempt, where Tsunoda missed beating the chequered flag by a matter of seconds, he reckoned that the communication from his team on the out-lap was also “poor”, having been aware that time was tight to get a lap in.

“Some intelligent car just came out from the pit and I aborted my lap, a lot of cars [hurt] my first lap quite a lot,” said Tsunoda, who also appeared to be wedged between Ferraris part-way though his first timed lap.

“To be honest, that’s it; on the last corner obviously I had a quite a lock-up, but to be honest the lap was pretty gone from Turn 1 already because of the car at the exit. And I wasn’t able to do a proper lap at all.

“I was [aware it was tight], I did whatever I can, but it’s like, what do you want me to do? I don’t know, because there’s a car in front and communication was pretty poor as well. Just in general, I didn’t [get a] proper qualifying.

“It’s pretty far back, I’ll try my best and obviously, anything can happen like this this track, so I keep positive and I’ll do my best.”

Doohan rued his own botched qualifying and was irate on the radio following his SQ1 elimination; speaking later, he reckoned there was a chance to improve on his second tour, had he been able to get out of the pitlane in time.

The Australian believes he’s in for a tough Saturday race, but hopes the team is able to gather some effective data to boost his chances of securing his first F1 points on Sunday.

“It all comes down to the last flying lap. The feeling was good, but ended up getting blocked on my way out of the pitlane, which was mess-up, because it was from the other car.

Jack Doohan, Alpine

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“I wasn’t able to do all the final timed lap and that’s why they make qualifying that long; you just do two laps and improve quite a lot on the second lap. I ended up being the last car out there and didn’t get the chance.

“The first lap was really messy, just trying a few things different from practice and still it wasn’t too bad, and I think there was a lot more time in the car for the second lap. I guess we’ll never know though.

“The sprint’s going to be a tough one, we just need to learn as much as we can from that for the main race and then focus on the main quali.”

Doohan’s fiery radio traffic after SQ1 elimination

Doohan: “Am I making it or not?”

Stuart Barlow (race engineer): “Okay mate, probably not here but let’s keep trying.”

Doohan: “You know man, that’s not acceptable. Not acceptable. That is not acceptable.

Barlow: “Yeah, sorry mate.”

Doohan: “If you’re going to send [Gasly] after me, you have to make sure he’s ready…or before me. I can’t turn out then turn in because he’s going to run into me. And then you guys put me out of Q1. That’s a joke.”