Home / Sports / Tsunoda's F1 Car Erupts in Flames During SF Showrun
Tsunoda's F1 Car Erupts in Flames During SF Showrun
23 Feb
Summary
- Yuki Tsunoda's F1 car caught fire during a recent San Francisco demonstration.
- The incident occurred with Red Bull's 2011 championship-winning RB7 car.
- This is not the first fire incident for Tsunoda during a showrun event.
Yuki Tsunoda experienced a dramatic incident during a Formula 1 demonstration event in San Francisco on February 23, 2026. While driving the championship-winning Red Bull RB7 from 2011, the car suddenly caught fire after Tsunoda performed several donuts. Marshals and spectators urged the driver to move away from the erupting flames, which he did calmly.
This event was Tsunoda's first public appearance since leaving the F1 grid at the close of the 2025 season. He currently fulfills the role of Red Bull Racing's reserve driver, assisting with testing and simulator duties. The RB7, driven by Sebastian Vettel to his second world championship in 2011, is a prominent pre-hybrid era F1 car.
This fiery occurrence is not an isolated event for Tsunoda. In 2024, a similar incident happened during a showrun in Taiwan while he was driving a different Red Bull car. Furthermore, the very same RB7 chassis had previously caught fire in 2014 during a Russian showrun with driver Alex Lynn.
