FIA announce Red Bull penalty verdict after Bahrain Grand Prix incident!
The FIA has officially issued Yuki Tsunoda his first reprimand of the 2025 season following a pit lane incident during Friday’s free practice session at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Tsunoda, recently promoted to the main Red Bull Racing team, endured a forgettable FP1 session. He was summoned to the stewards for overtaking Alexander Albon in the pit lane an action that violates F1 regulations and also found himself trailing behind Liam Lawson on the timing charts. The Japanese driver replaced Lawson just one race ago at the Japanese Grand Prix and, in a bizarre moment, seemed to briefly forget he’d changed teams, mistakenly driving toward his former Racing Bulls pit box instead of Red Bull’s.
After reviewing video footage, telemetry data, and hearing from both Tsunoda and Albon, the FIA confirmed the decision. In their official statement, the stewards noted: “The driver of Car 22 [Tsunoda] explained that he saw Car 23 [Albon] exiting the garage and feared that braking might cause a lockup and lead to contact with the car ahead
While the stewards accepted Tsunoda’s reasoning and ruled that Red Bull had not released him in an unsafe manner, they stated he should have backed off rather than overtaking in the pit lane. The FIA emphasized that overtaking in the pit lane is strictly prohibited except in exceptional cases, which this incident was not.
This follows several similar incidents from the Japanese Grand Prix, prompting the FIA to reinforce its stance on the rule.
Growing Pains for Tsunoda at Red Bull
Tsunoda’s transition to Red Bull has had a rocky start. He failed to score points in his debut race for the senior team at Suzuka, though he did outperform Liam Lawson by five positions. Still, it was rookie Isack Hadjar who ended up scoring points finishing ahead of both drivers.
Red Bull currently sits third in the Constructors’ Championship but has relied entirely on one driver for points so far. This echoes last season’s struggles, when Sergio Perez consistently failed to keep pace with Max Verstappen, ultimately costing the team the Constructors’ title to McLaren, despite Verstappen securing the Drivers’ Championship with races to spare.
McLaren’s success in 2024 was fueled by balanced contributions from both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, a formula Red Bull hopes to replicate this season. However, early signs suggest Tsunoda may face similar challenges to those of his predecessor, as the team works to regain its footing in the title race.
