An F1 cheating conspiracy theory has taken off after claims the bizarre retirement of AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda handed its sister team Red Bull a free pit stop for eventual race winner Max Verstappen.
Any talk of a conspiracy has been denied by AlphaTauri and Red Bull.
Watch Every Practice, Qualifying & Race of the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship™ Live on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
The F1 world has erupted as the strange drama evolved on the 44th lap when Tsunoda pit but stopped on track on the outlap claiming “Tyres not fitted”.
But eyebrows were raised when the team told Tsunoda to continue, claiming “the tyres are okay”.
He limped back to the pits and the team changed the tyres as is procedure and had to retighten Tsunoda’s seatbelt as the driver appeared ready to retire from the race.
It meant it was a 31.9 second pit stop.
Sky Sports commentator Ted Kravitz said: “I know we’re near the North Sea but this is fishy.
“I’m just wondering what on earth was going on because your seatbelts don’t just suddenly come undone at a pit stop and what a coincidence they changed the tyres.
“If it had been a safety car, it would have saved Max Verstappen’s bacon in this race.”
Tsunoda had re-entered the track but was limping along slowly and said he was still feeling an issue, claiming a differential issue.
His team immediately told him to stop, forcing a virtual safety car as Tsunoda parked by the side of the track.
Tsunoda explained the issue after the race.
“I thought there was an issue at the left rear, so I got told by my engineer to stop,” Tsunoda said.
“But we didn’t see any clear issue in the data. That is why I got back to the pits to fit a new tyre. After that, we saw a clear issue in the data and that is why we stopped.
“When I accelerated from the pit exit, it felt as if only one wheel was having wheel spin. It was like I was drifting down the straight and had to counter-steer.”
At the time, Verstappen was leading the race but needing another pit stop, and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was inside the pit window.
Hamilton was already on hard tyres and could have probably made it to the end of the race without another tyre change.
Verstappen stayed in front after switching to hard tyres, but Hamilton also responded, switching to the softer and faster medium tyres.
However a few laps later, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas broke down in the main straight, and Verstappen switched to soft tyres, handing Hamilton the lead as the Red Bull driver dropped to third.
That was until the second-placed George Russell inexplicably pitted for soft tyres and allowed Verstappen to sit right behind Hamilton.
But the Mercedes driver was no match for Verstappen’s pace, retaking the lead immediately after the race restarted.
However, it was the Tsunoda drama which raised questions as Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff offered a thinly-veiled take on the situation — stopping short of accusing Red Bull of ordering Tsunoda to stop.
“If we were fighting a championship, this would be something I would closely look at,” Wolff said post race.
“What needs to be investigated for the safety of drivers, and everybody out there, is that the driver stopped, unbuckled, did a full lap, came in; the problem wasn’t solved, they put the seatbelts back on and he drove out and stopped the car again.
“That probably changed the outcome of a race we maybe could have won. The simulation said Max would have come out eight seconds behind us (after his second stop without the VSC) and we would have had a fair shot, and the race planner said the win was on.
“Max would have caught Lewis about eight laps from the end. It would have been very close.”
The conspiracy theories caught fire on social media and saw both AlphaTauri and Red Bull strategy head Hannah Schmitz targeted by trolls.
AlphaTauri responded to the situation, writing: “Such hateful behaviour cannot be tolerated, and to entertain accusations of foul play is unacceptable, untrue and completely disrespectful towards 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 didn’t immediately detect which caused him to stop on track. To suggest anything different is insulting and categorically incorrect.”
Even Hamilton, who launched a fiery rant at his own team after the Russell drama, hit back at the accusations and the trolls targeting Schmidt.
Hamilton retweeted a message from his official fan group Team LH which read: “We 100% understand that everyone’s emotions are high right now.
“No one expected the race to unfold that way when we were so close to a win. But it’s important to us that we continue to spread love and empathy towards the hardworking teams in the paddock – whether from our team or others – but especially the women.
“The language of hateful comments directed at Red Bull head of strategy Hannah Schmitz is intolerable and should not be condoned. This sport is cutthroat, and you have to be ready for absolutely anything, and that’s what she did today.
“There are a lot of positives to take from Lewis’ race today, and that’s exactly what we are focusing on doing. Thank you for your unwavering support for LH! We win and we lose together.”
Tsunoda will take a 10-place grid penalty in next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix over the seatbelt safety issues.
