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Conspiracy theories abound about Dutch GP: 'Very convenient for Verstappen'

4 September 2022 at 21:36
Last update 4 September 2022 at 23:24
  • GPblog.com

With a lead of more than a hundred points in the Formula 1 championship, you would say that Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing do not need outside help, but some viewers think otherwise. After the Dutch Grand Prix, conspiracy theories surfaced about Yuki Tsunoda's retirement, which some fans believe was staged to help Verstappen to victory.

Outrage over Tsunoda's retirement

A hashtag has even been created by the outraged fans: with #F1xed they want to indicate that the GP in Zandvoort was 'fixed'. One group of viewers believes that Red Bull instructed sister team AlphaTauri to fake a retirement in order to cause a virtual safety car.

Another group of viewers opposes that suggestion, pointing to the huge lead of both Verstappen and Red Bull in both championships. Moreover, this year's title fight is not between Red Bull and Mercedes, so there are few reasons why two teams would risk so much to score some extra points.

As expected, there is also outrage at Ferrari's performance. Again, there are plenty of memes being produced, this time about Carlos Sainz' slow pit stop. It turned out an error was made in the preparation of the tyres, as a result of which a tyre was missing at the moment Sainz was standing still for his stop.