The Racing Bulls driver’s weekend was definitely not off to a good start as Yuki Tsunoda recalls his very lengthy and difficult immigration process in customs to enter the United States ahead of the F1 Las Vegas GP.
It was an extremely unexpected and unusual circumstance for the Japanese driver, who had never had issues entering the country before, but he had feared not having the chance to take part in the racing event on this occasion.
An unexpected hold-up
Tsunoda broke down what happened in customs in his F1 Las Vegas GP media session.
In particular, he mentioned his arrival in the country and the hardships he encountered in explaining himself.
Another instance which caused him troubles was having the immigration officers to believe him.
“Luckily they let me in after a couple of discussions, a lot of discussions, actually. I nearly got sent back home. Everything is all good now but yeah, luckily I’m here.”
While going through customs, as visitors entering the country coming from other continents, Tsunoda had troubles with getting recognised as a Formula 1 driver. He wasn’t even allowed to call for help, neither from his Red Bull-affiliated team nor from the championship itself:
“There was my physio that I travel with. Obviously when you go through customs, you go individually, right? And suddenly he [the official] just put me in the room and when I had a conversation I was like: can I bring the person that I’m going to travel with? Maybe he can help a little bit to explain a bit more about myself and the situation in Formula 1?”
Less than a month ago his visas were never a problem
The whole process came as a shock to him, especially due to the fact that all his visas for the previous American triple header, with rounds at Austin, Mexico and Brazil had been smoothly and swiftly accepted:
“They didn’t allow me to bring them or even call anyone. I wanted to call the team as well, or maybe F1 so they can help me. But in that room, you can’t do anything. I did the visas and everything.
“It’s been a shame. I guess with the last three, I was able to enter smoothly. So it felt a bit strange that I got stopped and had a proper discussion.”
How much comfy is too comfy?
In his opinion, the misunderstanding and the following holdover might have been caused by the fact that he was not wearing flashy or expensive clothes, but a more comfortable option fit for the long plane ride:
“Maybe I was wearing pyjamas and the colour looks like a… I don’t know,” he said. “It just feels that I got a lot of pressure from them, and I couldn’t say anything. Otherwise if I say something I feel like I’m more in trouble.”
“Luckily I went through smoothly,” he concluded, glad to be able to put the incident behind and focus on the actual racing.
Tsunoda equalled his best finish of 2024 with a P7 for the third time in the last round at São Paulo ahead of the three-week break, and he will definitely try to keep his points streak alive.
