FIA announce Red Bull F1 penalty verdict after Bahrain Grand Prix incident

Bahrain Grand Prix

FIA announce Red Bull penalty verdict after Bahrain Grand Prix incident

Yuki Tsunoda's first weeks at Red Bull haven't run smoothly

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Friday 11 April 2025 17:00 Updated: 18:29

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The FIA have announced that Yuki Tsunoda has been handed his first reprimand of the season by the stewards at the Bahrain Grand Prix following an incident during a practice session on Friday.

The newly-minted Red Bull driver had an FP1 to forget, getting summoned to the stewards for overtaking in the pit lane while also being beaten on the timing sheets by Liam Lawson.

Tsunoda replaced Lawson as of last weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix, after just two races of the 2025 season, and appeared at one point to forget which team he was driving for.

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The overtake on Albon in the pits wasn't even his first pit lane foul-up of the day, at one point just minutes earlier driving clean past his new Red Bull pit box and toward his old Racing Bulls one.

Now, the FIA has confirmed Tsunoda's penalty verdict having heard from the driver of Car 22 [Tsunoda], Car 23 [Albon], team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data and video evidence, handing the Red Bull star a sporting penalty.

An official FIA statement read: "The driver of Car 22 stated that he saw Car 23 leaving its garage and felt that if he braked to avoid it, he could lock up and hit the rear of the car."

The stewards accepted this explanation and also confirmed they felt the Red Bull had not been released unsafely, but felt that Tsunoda should have dropped back rather than overtaking Albon in this instance.

Following multiple incidents of overtaking in the pit lane at last weekend's Japanese GP, the FIA added: "It has been made clear, especially in recent events, that overtaking in the pit lane is prohibited unless there are extraordinary circumstances, and this situation is not considered as such."

Tsunoda struggles a familiar refrain for Red Bull

Tsunoda failed to pick up points at Suzuka in his first race for the senior Red Bull team, but did beat out Lawson by five places (although Isack Hadjar finished in the points, ahead of both).

Red Bull are third in the constructors' championship heading into the fourth round of the season but, like Aston Martin behind them, all of their points thus far have been scored by a single driver.

The season is already reminiscent of 2024 when Sergio Perez's consistent failure to match Max Verstappen's pace led to the team finishing behind McLaren and Ferrari in the constructors' championship.

That was despite Verstappen racking up enough points to secure the drivers' title with two races go to, with the much more balanced team contributions from Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri bringing the papaya team their first constructors' title in 25 years.

F1 RESULTS TODAY: Max Verstappen crushed by shock rival as Red Bull suffer Bahrain nightmare

Red Bull FIA Yuki Tsunoda Liam Lawson Bahrain Grand Prix