Yuki Tsunoda gets attacked online by Argentinian Franco Colapinto fans
Yuki Tsunoda was the victim of hate and racist comments on social media after his little tangle with Alpine's Franco Colapinto during the first practice session in Imola. This is set to be the Argentine's first race with the French outfit.
Alpine replaced rookie Jack Doohan with Colapinto for the next five races this season to test the competitiveness of their drivers. As the Argentine hit the track for the first time this season on Friday, he shared a close moment with Red Bull Racing's Yuki Tsunoda. The latter was on a hotlap when he found Colapinto on the racing line, forcing him to abort the run.
In the heat of the moment, the Japanese driver could be seen flipping Colapinto off. This seemingly angered the Argentine's fans as they began commenting with hateful and racist words and references under his more recent social media posts.
"I'm coming to send you a greeting from Argentina"
"What are you doing pikachu"
At the same time, however, there were other comments as well that supported Yuki Tsunoda as he faced the backlash on Instagram.
"Don't pay attention Yuki, the real ones love you ❤️ "
"They started bullying yuki... Shameful"
Yuki Tsunoda highlights his issues adapting to Red Bull
Red Bull Racing signed Tsunoda earlier this season after they decided to demote Liam Lawson back to VCARB. This was following subpar performances from the latter in the opening two races of the year.
However, the 25-year-old hasn't been performing too strongly, either. In the four races with the team so far, he has only managed to score points on two occasions, moreover, his best finish was a P9 in Bahrain. It is apparent that the Milton Keynes-based outfit is facing issues with the car, considering the performances of both their second drivers, but there has been no clear understanding of the issues.
Speaking to the media recently, Yuki Tsunoda put the blame on the car's drivability, mentioning that the VCARB reacted differently than the RB.
"I think it's just, it's coming from I feel like not [having] muscle memory [when driving the car]," Tsunoda said (via RacingNews365). "Everything at VCARB, when the car [snapped], it was super easy to react. I didn't have to think about anything to react to it."
While Tsunoda is barely keeping his car in the points, his teammate, Max Verstappen, has already managed to score a victory this season (Japan). While he is in contention for the World Championship, the team would have to bring a few upgrades to extract the most from the car.