“I thought there was an issue,” Yuki Tsunoda describes his unusual Dutch GP retirement

“I thought there was an issue,” Yuki Tsunoda describes his unusual Dutch GP retirement

Yuki Tsunoda

The Dutch Grand Prix was filled with thrill and excitement as the home hero Max Verstappen had put his car on pole. It was an easy victory for the reigning world champion. Nevertheless Red Bull’s sister team Alpha Tauri along with Yuki Tsunoda had a small part in increasing his chances of victory due to their actions in the race. A virtual safety car which go triggered in the second half of the race effectively decreased caused the pole sitter to get an advantage over his competitors .

Alfa Tauri young gun Yuki Tsunoda did not finish the Dutch Grand Prix as he retired his car on lap 43 of the race after coming to a stop twice in a row on two consecutive laps. The Japanese driver first stopped his car on lap 42 at the Hugenholtz corner as he suspected an issue in the car.

He suspected that the front left tyre on his car was loose and followed protocol. After switching off the engine, Yuki was told by his engineers to switch the engine back on and return to the pits.

FS Video

When he came into the Alpha Tauri pit box, his seatbelt was retightened and his tyres were changed. After which he was given the green light to continue with the race. Although after coming out, the driver told on the radio that he felt that the problem was still there.

YouTube video

Just when the Alpha Tauri driver exited the pitlane, he was told to stop the car which resulted in Yuki Tsunoda triggering a Virtual Safety Car. This VSC had a big impact on the race as it allowed sister team driver Max Verstappen to pit from the lead without any major repercussions.


The FIA came into play and decided to investigate the situation which involved the Japanese driver. The team was summoned before the stewards for an alleged breach in the rules which resulted in just a reprimand for Yuki. He further went on to explain the confusion situation from his perspective.

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“Tyres were not the issue in the end,” Yuki Tsunoda talks about his unsual retirement at the 2022 F1 Dutch Grand Prix

Yuki Tsunoda
Yuki Tsunoda

“Well, I thought there was an issue,” he told the media. “The engineers couldn’t really see in the data, so I came back again. We fitted a different set of tyres too and after that pit-stop, the engineer saw the issue clearly in the data – that’s why we stopped,” he said.

When asked if his tyres were loose, this is what he said, “Tyres were not the issue in the end,” Tsunoda also denied the seatbelts had been fully unclasped. “The seatbelt was fine, it was just retightened again,” he added.

Meanwhile conspiracy theorists on twitter went on to deem this incident with Yuki Tsunoda as the energy drink manufacturer’s plan to make sure that Max Verstappen comes out on top. Although it seems like a genuine and rare mistake by the team, it will be speculated for some time. With Monza marking the end of this triple header, it will be all to play for.

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