The Formula One team and Red Bull’s director of strategy were the targets of “accusations of foul conduct,” according to Red Bull-owned AlphaTauri, after the withdrawal of Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda in the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday.
When Tsunoda stopped at the side of the course, a virtual safety car (VSC) was activated, which eventually aided Max Verstappen of Red Bull, who went on to win the race and take the lead in the championship.
During the race in Zandvoort, Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time world champion for Mercedes, furiously warned his crew over the radio that “the VSC has stuffed us.”
The events that followed were strange, with the Japanese stopping at first because he thought a wheel was loose and then going back to the pits, where he was immediately sent out again and halted.
On Monday, AlphaTauri claimed that they and Red Bull’s head of strategy Hannah Schmitz had been the targets of internet harassment.
The team issued a statement saying, “Such vile behaviour cannot be condoned, and to consider allegations of foul play is irresponsible, inaccurate, and utterly insulting towards both Hannah and us.
“We have always engaged in autonomous, fair competition while upholding the greatest standards of sportsmanship.
“Yuki had a failure that the team failed to notice right away, which caused him to lose momentum. The social media post said, “To insinuate anything otherwise is offensive and completely false.
Verstappen and Christian Horner, the head of the Red Bull team, both said after the race that the virtual safety car incident had made things more difficult for them.
Hamilton shared a tweet in which a fan described Schmitz’s words as “intolerable.”
The account eventually withdrew the remark, stating that it had sparked more comments and ended up being more harmful than helpful.