Tsunoda gives conspiracy theorists a harsh retort: 'Get an MRI!'

The AlphaTauri driver says anyone who thinks his retirement was part of a plan to help Verstappen to victory should check themselves. The AlphaTauri driver's moment at Circuit Zandvoort was somewhat strange. Tsunoda stopped on the track and announced that his wheel was not fastened properly, but had to continue to the pits even though his belts were already loose. On his second trip out of the pit lane, Tsunoda reported the same problem and stayed on the track. During the ensuing virtual safety car, Verstappen was able to parry the Mercedes threat.

Tsunoda shows the back of his tongue

Racer.com quotes Tsunoda: "It's funny that fans are so excited that they can always come up with a story. It is a simple fact that there was a problem with the car. Of course the situation caused some confusion, but it's no reason to complain against the team, against me or against Red Bull with such a crazy story." The Japanese stressed that he drove a good race himself and could possibly score points. It would be very illogical to stop on purpose.

As AlphaTauri is the sister team of Red Bull Racing and falls under certain authority of the Red Bull organisation, the suspicions of the teams' opponents were somewhat obvious. Racer.com asked Tsunoda if he understood the scepticism of the fans. Tsunoda: "I don't even want to understand it! I don't care. I just want to know what your brain is like when you think like that. Do an MRI scan and see what's wrong. Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri are two completely different teams."