The virtual safety car is deployed when AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda is forced to stop at the side of the track.
The virtual safety car is deployed when AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda is forced to stop at the side of the track.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has raised questions about Yuki Tsunoda’s strange stop at the Dutch GP and insists Lewis Hamilton would have had a great chance of beating Max Verstappen without the stoppage.
Sunday’s enthralling race looked set to lead to Hamilton’s first win of the season as he chased down Verstappen on much faster tyres, and the Red Bull driver had to return to the pits.
But that turned on its head when a Virtual Safety Car was called on lap 48 of 72 for a peculiar stop by Tsunoda.
Tsunoda, who drives for Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri, reported tire problems and appeared set to retire from the race as he stopped and unbuckled his seat belts, before being called out by new in the pits. After a series of checks – including re-fastening the straps – Tsunoda was sent on his way again only for his team to tell him to stop again after just four corners.
Lewis Hamilton expresses his frustration with Mercedes’ strategic decisions on team radio during the Dutch Grand Prix.
The VSC was then called on and gave Verstappen an effective free stop to maintain the lead, while he then overtook Hamilton after a full safety car, with the Mercedes driver finishing fourth.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner insisted he was not actually playing into Verstappen’s hands, but Wolff opened the door to the conspiracy theories that have emerged online since the incident.
“If we were to fight for a championship, that would be something I would look at closely,” admitted the Mercedes team principal when asked if the governing FIA should investigate the incident.
“Now, I think it needs to be investigated for the safety of drivers and everyone.
Max Verstappen overtakes Lewis Hamilton on the restart after the end of the safety car at the Dutch Grand Prix.
“The driver stopped, unbuckled, did a complete lap, got in, the problem was not fixed, the seat belts were put back on and he got out and stopped the car again.
“That probably changed the outcome of the race that maybe we could have won.”
Wolff said that without the VSC, Verstappen would have exited the pits behind Hamilton by up to eight seconds.
“I think we would have had a good chance to win,” he added. “The race planner said the win was on the way. It was very close, but it was on the way.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff defends the team’s strategic calls, insisting they had to take risks to have a chance of winning the race.
Tsunoda’s problem has been confirmed to be a broken differential, while he was also given a reprimand – penalizing him 10 grid positions for this weekend’s Italian GP – for wearing a seat belt loose safety
Giving his version of events, 22-year-old Japanese driver Tsunoda said: “I thought there was a problem and a problem with the left rear tyre, so my engineer told me to stop.
“But we didn’t see a clear problem in the data. That’s why we rejoined to go back to the pits to fit a new tire. But after that, we saw a clear problem in the data, that’s why we stopped – us [for a second time].”
Asked what the failure was, Tsunoda replied, “I don’t know.”
Former F1 world champion Damon Hill talks to Sky Sports News about why Lewis Hamilton became frustrated with the Mercedes team during the Dutch Grand Prix.
“You Can’t Orchestrate This”: Delving into Tsunoda’s DNF
Asked after the race about Tsunoda’s controversial stop, Sky Sports F1 Paul Di Resta was adamant.
“You can’t orchestrate this,” he said.
The radio messages support this belief that this could not have been tampered with.
Tsunoda repeatedly said on lap 45 that his “tires are not mounted”, prompting AlphaTauri to tell him to “stop on a track in a safe place”.
Lewis Hamilton apologized for criticizing Mercedes’ strategy on team radio, admitting he was “about to break down with emotion”.
Thirty seconds later he was told “his tires are fine, start again” and told him “let’s pack up, put another tire on and head out”, making it clear that they were always planning to send Tsunoda back and hoped that a change of tire help .
Immediately upon exiting the pits, Tsunoda said, “Something’s wrong, something weird in the back. This is broken, I think.”
AlphaTauri then replied, “Stop, stop in a safe place.”
The failure was later diagnosed as a broken differential, which is rarely seen in F1 racing.
“The FIA has all the information, all the team’s radio,” added Di Resta. “Yuki is doing his thing and AlphaTauri is his own team.
“And I don’t think the race was ultimately lost there [for Hamilton].”
Alpha Tauri responds to online hate after Tsunoda DNF
Following the online backlash to the incident, Alpha Tauri has denounced “hateful behaviour” directed at his team and Red Bull Racing’s head of strategy, Hannah Schmitz.
In a statement released on social media, the team said: “It is incredibly disheartening to read some of the language and comments directed at our team and Red Bull Racing’s head of strategy, Hannah Schmitz.
“Such abhorrent behavior cannot be tolerated, and receiving allegations of foul play is unacceptable, untrue and totally disrespectful to both 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 did not immediately detect and that caused him to stop on the track.
“To suggest anything different is insulting and categorically wrong.”
Sky Sports remains committed to the ‘Hate Won’t Win’ campaign and is dedicated to making social media platforms a place for comment and debate free from abuse, hate and profanity.
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