F1: Yuki Tsunoda's Alpha Tauri car fixed with duct tape at Azerbaijan GP raises eyebrows

In the eighth round of the Formula One 2022 season, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku street circuit came to a conclusion on Sunday with the reigning world champion Max Verstappen winning his fifth race of the season. The main race on Sunday witnessed Ferrari suffering a double DNF, which had a significant impact on the race result. At the same time, Alpha Tauri youngster Yuki Tsunoda also found himself in the headlines for an incident that became a talking point on and off the grid.

Tsunoda looked certain for a P10 finish in the race, but a bizarre incident involving the rear wing of his AlphaTauri car forced him to finish the race at P13 and outside the points. The rear wing of his AT03 suffered damage down the middle, which was followed by the race stewards issuing him a black and yellow flag, ordering him to return to the pits with  ‘mechanical issues or loose bodywork’. The team came up with the solution of asking the driver to not use the DRS for the rest of the race, however, the stewards then called for ‘action’.

Watch the rear wing of Yuki Tsunoda's AlphaTauri breaking off:

In response, AlphaTauri called Tsunoda into the pits and fixed the rear wing of his car, using duct tape. This attracted criticism for the team from the commentators, as they said during the live broadcast of the race that teams are not allowed to do so. However, Tsunoda went on to finish the race at P13, without any DRS. Meanwhile, Formula 1 fans on social media also poked fun at the team’s idea of using duct tape to fix the wing. 

Watch AlphaTauri engineers using duct tape to fix Yuki Tsunoda's car:

How did the F1 fans react to the incident?

What has been said so far?

Speaking on Sky Sports F1, former Indian racing driver and TV presenter Karun Chandok made a few interesting revelations about the incident. “I tell you what, Jo Bauer from the FIA has come stomping down the pitlane. Jo Bauer, unfortunately, got here about five seconds too late and the car had already skidded off. This may not be something the FIA are particularly happy with,” Chandok added.

(Image: @f1/Instagram)