Emilia-Romagna GP starting grid changed hours before race after major work to car

will start the from the pit lane after were forced to make wholesale changes to his RB21 machine following a terrifying qualifying crash on Saturday.

The Japanese racer lost control of his Red Bull machinery after running over a kerb, and was sent spinning across the gravel trap at high speed. After colliding with the barriers, his RB21 car was sent barrelling into the air, completing a full rotation in the air before landing the right way up in the grass.

Fortunately, Tsunoda emerged from the crash okay, but his Red Bull car was in pieces in the gravel trap. He also failed to set a lap time before finding the wall, meaning he was classified last of the 20 cars in the field. Now, he has been moved to the pit lane for the Grand Prix after his engineers completed extensive work overnight.

The FIA stewards confirmed the work to Tsunoda's car just hours before the green flag in Imola. The 25-year-old has taken a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-H, MGU-K, energy store, control electronics and exhaust system for his RB21 machine ahead of the Emilia Romagna GP.

"I was just very ashamed, disappointed," Tsunoda explained after qualifying drew to a close. "It was really stupid for myself, pushing like that, unnecessarily hard."

He continued: "The only thing I can do is apologise to them and just pray. The car obviously had a big damage, so the mechanics have to do a lot of work until tomorrow; hopefully the car will be ready. Very unnecessary for them, and for myself putting them in the wrong situation."

Tsunoda's crash also drew the attention of Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, who pointed out the worrying pattern in the Japanese racer's performances. "Thank God nothing happened to him personally," Marko told Sky Germany.

"It's a huge setback for us, because it's now three races in a row. Monte Carlo, in particular, is not exactly forgivable if you have a slip-up there. And the spare parts situation has become really critical as a result."

Tsunoda wasn't the only driver to find the barriers on Saturday. Franco Colapinto hit the wall after dipping wheels onto the grass at the exit of Turn Three on his first lap in Q2, bringing his first qualifying session as an Alpine driver to a premature end.