Tsunoda was forced to retire from Saturday’s race in Azerbaijan after the first two laps of the Sprint were very strange for him.
The Japanese grazed the wall on the opening lap after contact with teammate Nyck de Vries and, as he pitted, his right rear tire slipped off the rim, briefly rolling down the track.
After pitting to change tyres, Tsunoda was faced with further drama when he rejoined the race, discovering that his right rear wheel and suspension were off axis. Subsequently, the Japanese completed a slow lap before pitting to retire.
The AlphaTauri was fined by the FIA for an unsafe release, after the governing body felt the team could have done more to check the car was safe before returning it to the track.
However, investigations carried out by AlphaTauri this week concluded that the suspension was intact when the car left the pits and that a tie rod only failed when loaded on the right-hand bend out of the pits.
Speaking to Motorsport.com ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, AlphaTauri vehicle performance manager Guillaume Dezoteux explained that subsequent analyzes painted a slightly different picture to what was thought to have happened on the day.
“We’ve done a lot of investigations into Sprint,” he said. “And indeed, when Yuki stopped, the car was undamaged and was safe to send back to the track.”
Tsunoda also suffered a puncture earlier in the weekend
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
“We saw that the right rear suspension gave out coming out of the pits and then the car ended up on three wheels as seen on TV.”
Dezoteux explained that the mechanics did a thorough check of the suspension during the pit stop and found nothing wrong, as confirmed by subsequent data.
“During the pitstop we had a look,” he said. “We didn’t notice any damage and we saw in the data and footage that the suspension failure only happened at a later time.”
“There was no rear suspension movement or degree of freedom at the time, so we decided to send the car back out.”
“It was a bit of a relief, certainly for us, because it’s always difficult to manage this kind of situation. And we were happy to see that, in the end, we were able to make a right decision, as it was never our intention is to send it to the track on three wheels”.
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT04
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
AlphaTauri had a rough start to the season, but started to make progress, with Tsunoda entering Q3 in Baku and posting a top ten finish.
Dezoteux said the Azerbaijani track characteristics suit his team’s 2023 car, which could bode well for his chances in Miami.
“It’s a track that favors good power unit performance and an efficient aero package,” he said. “There is no high sensitivity to downforce and that helped us.”
“We have good mechanical grip and, from a set-up point of view, we have opted for a car that is soft enough and easier for the drivers to drive, to try to help them improve quickly on this track.”
“This paid off with Yuki, but it was difficult for Nyck because there were very few free practice sessions and with the few laps that are done, everything is aimed at qualifying.”
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