AlphaTauri Handed Fine After Yuki Tsunoda Blunder At Chaotic Azerbaijan Sprint Race

AlphaTauri have been handed a €5,000 fine for releasing Yuki Tsunoda back onto the track during the Azerbaijan sprint race after his horrific crash.

AlphaTauri has been handed a €5,000 fine for sending Yuki Tsunoda back out on the track in an unsafe condition during the Azerbaijan sprint race. 

During the early stages of the race, the Japanese driver made minor contact with his teammate Nyck de Vries which he believed caused some damage to his car. However, the main issue was when he collided with the race wall at Turn 13, leaving him with a punctured rear tyre and damage to the car. 

Tsunoda managed to get back to the pit lane where the team looked over the car and deemed it safe to return to the track after changing the tyre and nose. However, it became evident very quickly that there were more problems with the car meaning Tsunoda was left crawling around the track. This caused mayhem with the other drivers' sprint race session.

The Race Stewards put out a note that they would be investigating the move from the team after the race. Once the team had been summoned, the Stewards confirmed that AlphaTauri could have done more to check the car was safe before sending Tsunoda back out on track. The Stewards note read:

“The driver [Tsunoda] had indicated to the team while returning to the pits that the shunt was significant and that he did not think it was possible to continue.

“The team apparently did a visual check on the car, refitted a new tyre and rim and released the car. The right rear suspension failed almost immediately after the release and the car had to be driven slowly back to the pits and retired. We considered that the team could have done more to check if the car was safe before releasing it.”

Despite the penalty for the team, Tsunoda will note receive a grid penalty tomorrow so will continue to start the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from eighth position on the grid.