AlphaTauri released a statement in response to the conspiracy theories regarding Yuki Tsunoda’s retirement from the Dutch GP.
Tsunoda stopped at the track on lap 44 of the Dutch GP as he felt that a tire was not properly attached to his car. He was told to keep going as no issues had been detected.
The Japanese driver went to the pits to get his seatbelts fastened again. After the pit stop, he was told to stop as the team had found a terminal issue. The Virtual Safety Car was deployed to remove the AlphaTauri car.
Theories that AlphaTauri deliberately let Tsunoda rejoin the track to give Max Verstappen an opportunity to make a pit stop under the VSC were spread on social media. On Monday, the Faenza-based outfit reacted to the suggestions.
“It is incredibly disheartening to read some of the language and comments directed at our team and towards Red Bull Racing’s head of strategy, Hannah Schmitz,” the statement read.
“Such hateful behavior cannot be tolerated, and to entertain accusations of foul play is unacceptable, untrue, and completely disrespectful towards Hannah and us.
“We have always competed independently, fairly, and with the highest levels of respect and sportsmanship.
“Yuki had a failure that the team didn’t immediately detect which caused him to stop on track. To suggest anything different is insulting and categorically incorrect.”
