Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda refused to blame each other for their dramatic Lap 1 clash at the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Gasly and Tsunoda were 👍the only two drivers who failed to finish the race after colliding on the openi🔯ng lap.

Gasly attempted to overtake 𓃲Tsunoda on the out🏅side of Turn 4, the tight left-hander in the first sector.

It looked like Gasly could make the move stick, but the pair collided and clatte꧂red into the barriers as Tsunoda was unable to give any more room.

Gasly was instantly out of the rᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚace, while Tsunoda could return to the pit lane as Red Bull assessed his car for damage.

Tsuno🎀da was out of the race due to significant damage to the rear of his RB21, retiring at the end ofꦉ the opening lap. 

Reflecting on the incident🦂 after the race, Gasly told Sky Sports: “Therꦫe is no need to say too much about it. I know him, I know it’s never intentional.

“I had a good line into Turn ꦰ4 and could brake quite late, and try to leave as much space as I could on the outside. I already had the car past the white line. I kept my tools inside the track to make sure the pass was done.

“A🍨t the end of the day, it’s a tiny touch. It’s a shame it put a stop to both of our races.”

Tsunoda felt he cou🍸ldn’t do anything to av𒊎oid the incident with his former teammate.

Tsunoda explained: “It’s hard to blame.ཧ I did as much as I could to avoid it. I was fully in control in terms of speed. I was not crashing into ꦗthe car in front. I was in control.

“I tried to avoid it, not hitting Pierre. But it was probably t🦋he most tight corner at this track. Going side by side, you will always have risk.

“We both know, I assume, because of experience. It’s a shame how it ended up. It’s hard to say. He could say there was space. But fr🧸om my point of view, I didn’t have much space. I tried to slow down ꦛas much as I could to avoid it. I don’t know what I could do.”

The FIA take no action

The stewards decided against punishing Tsunoda for the incident on ﷺLap 1 in Jeddah.

It was revealed that Gasly didn’t bl🅠ame Tsunoda in the stewards’ office, with the pair agreeing that it was a racing incident.

The FIA’s statement reܫad: “The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 22 (Yuki Tsunoda), the driveꦚr of Car 10 (Pierre Gasly), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry and in-car video evidence and determined that this was a first lap racing incident.

“Car 22 and Car 10 were battling for track position on the first lap. They navigated four corners without incident but collided on Turn 5. Both parties agreed that this was a lap one incident with no 𓄧party wholly or predominantly to blame.

“Although we cons🅷idered whether this was properly a lap one incident or really an incident between two cars (and no others) on lap one.

“Ultimately, given the narrow track and the fact that Car 55 was just in front of Car 22, le🌳d us to agree with the assessment of both dr𓃲ivers that this should be treated as a lap one incident with no further action.”