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Yuki Tsunoda has explained the bizarre sequence of events that led to his retirement from the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.
The Japanese driver stopped out on track shortly after his second stop on Lap 42.
He reported over team radio a problem with one of the wheels, only for the team to instruct him to carry on.
That saw him tour around back to the pits where the tyres on the Scuderia AlphaTauri were changed. Mechanics also worked inside the cockpit before Tsunoda headed back out on track.
Soon after, he was instructed to stop the car again in a move that triggered the Virtual Safety Car.
“I thought there was an issue and [the] engineers didn’t see in the data,” Tsunoda explained.
“So I came back again [into the pits]. We put on a different set of tyres and after that pitstop [my] engineer saw the issue clearly in the data; that’s why we stopped.”
While in the pits, mechanics worked on Tsunoda’s seat belts which had come loose, though no further explanation was offered.
It was suggested the Japanese driver undid his belts, touring back to the pits with them undone before mechanics buckled him up once more.
Strapped in and with engineers unable to find a problem, Tsunoda was sent back out. It was only then that the issue manifested itself in the data.
Spotting the problem, the Scuderia AlphaTauri pit wall advised its driver to stop on track near a gap in the fence where the car could be cleared.
“After the pit stop [Tsunoda] reported something strange at the rear of the car, we called him in again to change the tyres and immediately after we had a car failure,” said Claudio Balestri, the team’s Chief Engineer – Vehicle Performance.
The Dutch GP proved a difficult event for Scuderia AlphaTauri with Tsunoda failing to finish and Pierre Gasly only 11th.
“Today the target was to score points and unfortunately, we didn’t manage that,” Balestri said.
“In the fight at the first lap we lost a few positions to [Esteban] Ocon and [Lance] Stroll, so for most of the first stintuy we were in P11 with Yuki and P12 with Pierre.
“Pierre ran in traffic for 10 laps and therefore suffered more tyre degradation, meaning he also lost a position to [Fernando] Alonso, so after a few laps we called him in.
“We then did the same with Yuki for his second stint.
“In this middle part of the race, with both cars on Mediums, we were not able to keep the pace of the two Alpines in front.
“We could see the Hard compound was very competitive on the other cars around us and for this reason we decide to stop Gasly and fit the Hards, whilst we let Yuki continue on the Mediums for a longer second stint.
“Having seen that the compound was working well, we decided to also pit Yuki for them.
“At the end of the race, when the Safety Car was deployed, due to Bottas stopping on track at the end of the main straight, we decided to stay out to unlap Pierre and then we pitted the lap after.
“When the Safety Car came in, Pierre was in P11, just behind Stroll both on the same tyre but the Aston Martin was very fast in the last corner and we could not get past him to enter into the points.”
Scuderia AlphaTauri remains eighth in the constructors’ standings with 29 points, now four clear of Aston Martin and five back from Haas.
The Formula 1 season continues this weekend with the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
