Yuki Tsunoda Escapes Penalty After Monza Grid Position Investigation

Racing Bulls driver Yuki Tsunoda has avoided punishment following a stewards’ investigation into his grid positioning during an early restart at the Italian Grand Prix. The Japanese driver retained his tenth-place finish and first point of the season after officials accepted the team’s explanation that he did not gain an advantage.

Incident During Lap 6 Restart

The incident occurred during a lap 6 restart triggered by a red flag for Charles Leclerc’s accident on lap 2. As Tsunoda took up 14th position on the grid, race control noted he appeared to park outside his designated grid box. Officials responded by adding an extra formation lap, and the stewards summoned Tsunoda and team representatives after the race for an alleged breach of Article B5.9.4 of the FIA Formula 1 Regulations regarding start procedure infringement.

The investigation put Tsunoda’s hard-earned point at risk. The driver had returned to Racing Bulls this weekend, deputising for Liam Lawson after Lawson moved to Red Bull to replace the injured Isack Hadjar. Tsunoda had lost his regular seat at the end of the 2024 season and was serving as Red Bull’s reserve driver prior to this call-up.

Tsunoda Explains Grid Confusion

Tsunoda clarified that confusion over his starting position caused the unusual angle of his car on the grid.

“I was a bit confused starting between 14th and 15th,” Tsunoda explained. “In my view, I didn’t really gain the position before the red flag. I thought I was 15th. But at least I parked behind the box, pretty far, so I don’t think I gained any advantage for that.”

According to Tsunoda, he initially prepared to line up 15th on the left-hand side of the grid before realising he needed to cross the track to the right-hand side for 14th position.

Stewards Accept Team Arguments

The stewards agreed with Racing Bulls that Tsunoda was not in a false start position and that no other competitors were impacted. They determined the extra formation lap was a discretionary decision by the race director rather than a direct consequence of Tsunoda’s actions, noting the team had not been informed they were considered the cause.

FIA Verdict Details

The stewards’ full decision outlined several key findings verified through multiple camera angles:

Car 22 approached the grid initially heading for the left hand side of the grid, then realising he was headed for the wrong grid position, the driver changed direction and positioned his car in the correct grid box and in the correct position within the grid box. This was verified by the Stewards with video from multiple camera angles.

The Race Director, in evidence, stated that it was his call, based on the behaviour of the car on the approach to the grid box, to commence an extra formation lap. He stated he was not comfortable starting the race with the car in that position.

The team representative presented five arguments:

The team representative stated that:
(i) The car was not in a “false start” position – referring to Article B5.1.1c of the F1 regulations, because no contact patch of the front tyres was outside the grid box lines (front and side)
(ii) At the Drivers meeting, the Race Director advised that for the start, the track limits were the pit walls and in this case, even though the car was pointed to the right, it had at least 4 metres of space to move off from the start
(iii) No other driver was impacted by the position of Car 22
(iv) The driver of Car 22 was not the “cause” of the extra formation lap.
(v) At no time was the team advised that Race Control considered Car 22 to be the cause of the extra formation lap.

Regulatory Technicality Prevents Penalty

The stewards analysed Article B5.9.4, which specifies that a driver who causes an extra formation lap must enter the pit lane at the end of that lap and start from there. A stop-and-go penalty applies only if the driver fails to comply with that requirement.

Further, Article B5.9.4 goes on to specify that if a driver who causes the extra formation lap and is then able to start the extra formation lap, he must enter the Pit Lane at the end of the lap and start from the Pit Lane. It is only then, if the driver fails to do this, that the mandatory penalty of a Stop and Go penalty is imposed.

In other words, the penalty is for failing to come into the Pit Lane and start from there. The penalty is not for causing the extra formation lap, if indeed, he caused the extra formation lap in the first place.

A critical issue emerged regarding driver awareness. The team cited precedents where extra formation laps were ordered for extraneous reasons such as photographer positioning.

A critical issue emerges here, in that in order to comply with the requirement to enter and start from the Pit Lane, a driver would need to know that he was the cause of the extra formation lap. The team representative quoted situations where extra formation laps have been commenced due to extraneous circumstances such as the position of a photographer etc. In this case, no message was sent to the team or the driver, advising them that they were the cause of the extra formation lap.

The team, based on the fact that the car was positioned within its starting grid box in compliance with the regulations, had, in our determination, no reason to instruct its driver to enter and start from the Pit Lane.

No Further Action Taken

The stewards concluded they could not impose a penalty because the team and driver were unaware they were considered the cause of the extra formation lap. They acknowledged the race director acted in good faith and suggested the FIA consider implementing a formal notification process for future incidents.

Accordingly, irrespective of whether or not the driver directly caused the extra formation lap, the team and driver were unaware that they were being considered as the cause, therefore we determine that we are unable to impose a Stop and Go penalty in this case, and decide to take no further action.

We note that the Race Director acted in good faith and out of an abundance of caution in ordering an extra formation lap. We further note that the FIA might wish to consider implementing a process to advise teams and drivers if they are considered to be the cause of an extra formation lap, so that they are then able to comply with the requirements of Article B5.9.4.

Tsunoda’s tenth-place finish stands, securing his first championship point of the 2025 season in just his second grand prix appearance for Racing Bulls.