AlphaTauri defends itself against accusations that curious retirement of Yuki Tsunoda at Zandvoort was to help Max Verstappen – Commissioners find problem in differential
Was AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda’s curious retirement at Zandvoort controlled to help Max Verstappen win? These rumours surfaced after last weekend’s Formula One race in the Netherlands. Not helped by statements from Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff and some TV pundits, which also went in that direction.
But from the beginning: It’s the 44th lap in Zandvoort. Max Verstappen leads by 16 seconds from Lewis Hamilton and 19 seconds from his Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who are third and fourth respectively. Verstappen, however, has to come in for another pit stop, where he would fall behind the Mercedes, who want to go through.
But at that moment Yuki Tsunoda stops on the track and triggers a yellow flag. “The tyres are not solid,” he complains. Nothing much happens yet, though, as the Japanese driver is able to restart the car and drive back to the pits because the team tells him that everything is fine with the tyres.
In the pits, the tyres are changed and Tsunoda is strapped back in, having already loosened the belts. Tsunoda is sent out again, only to stop again a few metres later. The virtual safety car allowed Verstappen to complete his tyre change without falling behind the two Mercedes.
Wolff was “speechless” about it after the race because he believed Mercedes could have won the race without the virtual safety car. And he hinted to ‘ORF’: “The bitterness would be very big if we were racing for a championship. Then of course you think to yourself: yesterday [Sergio] Perez drives into the gravel and today Tsunoda is parked outside. “
AlphaTauri: “Unacceptable”, “untrue”, “disrespectful “
The conspiracy quickly made its rounds in the social media. Especially Red Bull chief strategist Hannah Schmitz was targeted and became the target of hate comments because she was shown smiling at the command post at that time.
– Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) September 5, 2022
AlphaTauri felt compelled to issue a statement on Monday afternoon, condemning the comments against Schmitz and his own team. “Such hateful behaviour cannot be tolerated and allegations of dishonest behaviour are unacceptable, untrue and completely disrespectful to both Hannah and ourselves,” the team shares.
The racing team continues, “We have always competed independently, fairly and with the highest level of respect and sportsmanship. Yuki had damage, which the team did not immediately discover, that caused him to stop on the track. To suggest otherwise is insulting and categorically false. “
Tsunoda “drifts” on the straights
Tsunoda tries to explain how the curious incident could have happened: “I thought there was a problem. It was pretty obvious to me, especially at the left rear,” said the Japanese driver. “The engineer told me to stop, but we didn’t see a problem in the data. That’s why we pitted for new tyres.”
“But after that we saw a clear problem in the data and that’s why we stopped,” Tsunoda said.
LAP 48/72
Tsunoda comes back in to the pits for running repairs before coming out again and immediately encountering problems again. He’s parked up at the side of the track.
⚠️ VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/iWdoYsfImt
– Formula 1 (@F1) September 4, 2022
In its press release after the race, the racing team only wrote about a “problem with the car”, which they want to analyse. They have not yet announced an exact reason, but a letter from the FIA commissioners mentions a problem with the differential.
Tsunoda noted that “only one wheel had wheelspin”. “I drifted on the straight and had to counter-steer on the straights,” he says. That’s why he had also suspected that one tyre was not properly tightened. But when the problem reappeared after the tyre change, it was clear that something could not be right.
Tsunoda: Grid penalty at Monza
For Tsunoda, however, the matter still has an aftermath. Because after his comments about a tyre not being tightened, the commissioners launched an investigation, because sending the car out onto the track in an unsafe condition is not looked upon favourably and will result in a penalty.
By my reckoning, Yuki Tsunoda should get a 10-place penalty at Monza. He received his fifth caution at Zandvoort. While this one is “Non-Driving”, only 4 out of 5 have to be “Driving”…. F1 DutchGP pic.twitter.com/fuckONeJi6
– Norman Fischer (@NormanMST) September 4, 2022
“The commissioners’ investigation led to the conclusion that there was a problem with the differential. That is why the car was not in an unsafe condition when it left its pit position,” the FIA said.
However, the commissioners criticised the fact that Tsunoda had already loosened his seatbelts and drove into the pits with them. However, because it could not be determined to what extent the belts had been loosened, the driver was given a warning. But: Because this is already Tsunoda’s fifth one this season, he will receive a grid penalty of ten places at Monza.
What speaks against a conspiracy
The FIA’s confirmation that there was a problem with the car should put paid to conspiracy theories. Moreover, Tsunoda parked his car directly in front of a pocket, where it is still easiest to remove the car from the track.
Which also argues against a deliberate retirement: AlphaTauri is in a tight battle with Haas and Aston Martin for seventh place in the World Championship, with the teams separated by a maximum of five points each.
Why should the racing team sacrifice a driver who was in the points before his pit stop to help Max Verstappen, who is way ahead in the championship anyway and would probably have won the race even without the virtual safety car? Wolff also had to admit that after the race.
“Without the virtual safety car, we might have had a 50 per cent chance because Max would have come out just under ten seconds behind us,” Wolff says. “Would we have won it? Probably not. “
