F1 2025: FIA confirm Red Bull penalty verdict at Bahrain Grand Prix

christian horner, red bull, fia — Photo: © IMAGO

Bahrain Grand Prix

FIA confirm Red Bull penalty verdict at Bahrain Grand Prix

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

Chris Deeley

Saturday 12 April 2025 00:00 Updated: 23:16

Red Bull star Yuki Tsunoda has been reprimanded by the FIA at the Bahrain Grand Prix after an investigation into an incident during practice on Friday.

The Japanese driver was summoned to the stewards after overtaking in the pit lane in FP1, in a difficult start to his Red Bull career.

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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.

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.

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.

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Red Bull FIA Yuki Tsunoda Bahrain Grand Prix