Rare DNS witnessed at Italian Grand Prix with race start aborted and delayed

The Italian Grand Prix got off to a false start as Yuki Tsunoda suffered a rare DNS on the formation lap, preventing the race starting on time.

The AlphaTauri driver suffered a failure in his car on the way to the grid and the remaining drivers saw the race start aborted, with the field going around on a second formation lap as a result.

The race start was then delayed by several minutes and the teams were allowed to work on their cars before the race was able to get underway in earnest.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The initial delay was only due to be five minutes, but it turned out to be longer after teas reported a “systems issue with the start lights, so the crews are returning to the grid until the issue is resolved.”

A five-minute warning would then be given to the teams before the race could get going again, with Tsunoda having required a recovery vehicle on track to bring him and his stricken AlphaTauri back to the garage.

Once the race was able to get underway at 15:20 local time [14:20 BST], the race would instead run to a 51-lap distance with a third formation lap having been completed before a standing start as planned, and the drivers having been fuelled for a 53-lap race.

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When asked about what caused his issue in the paddock, Tsunoda told media including PlanetF1.com: “We don’t know exactly yet. I guess engine, but I heard a weird sound from the engine and something cracking, a cracking sound, something like that going on at the rear end.

“I didn’t feel any power, so definitely something going wrong there and I just pulled over to minimise the problem.”

Having been due to start 11^th, there was a chance to break into the points places in what has been a rarity so far for AlphaTauri this season, which was something of a frustration for him.

“I think points was possible actually – the pace was really good,” he said when asked about what he thought would have been on for him at Monza.

“I wanted to race and see how it goes, because from free practice it was really good pace. So, you know, it’s definitely a shame, especially starting really close to the points.

“这是它是什么,我认为这是第一次me in the year that we have a reliability issue that so far we didn’t have, so it’s fine, just staying positive and we come back strong in Singapore.”

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