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AlphaTauri lashes out at 'disrespectful' conspiracy theorists after DutchGP
After the Grand Prix of the Netherlands, won by Max Verstappen, a remarkable conspiracy theory was launched. Red Bull Racing would have used AlphaTauri to let Yuki Tsunoda cause a virtual safety car. Because of that Verstappen would stay ahead of the Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. AlphaTauri now firmly denies this.
"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. Such hateful behaviour cannot be tolerated, and to entertain accusations of foul play is unacceptable, untrue and completely disrespectful towards both Hannah and us," reads the statement AlphaTauri has distributed through its own channels.
AlphaTauri may be the sister team of Red Bull Racing, but both teams operate completely independently and are also not in contact with each other during Grands Prix, the Faenza-based formation confirms. "We have always competed independently, fairly and with the highest levels of respect and sportsmanship."
The fact that Tsunoda came in for another pit stop, drove off again and then still had to park his AT03 along the track caused surprise among many F1 fans. AlphaTauri, however, acted in good conscience. "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."
