Red Bull Formula One driver Yuki Tsunoda has been slapped with a 10-place grid penalty for the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix.
The Japanese driver will start the race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve from 20th on the grid after finishing qualifying in 11th. On top of the grid penalty, Tsunoda was handed two penalty points on his super licence, bringing his total to two in 12 months.
The FIA has confirmed that Tsunoda was handed the penalty for overtaking McLaren driver Oscar Piastri under red flag conditions during the third and final practice session.
While speaking to the media following qualifying, Tsunoda claimed that he didn’t feel that he deserved the penalty.
“I’m not really sure I deserve that penalty because I don’t know what they want me to do,” he explained.
“Obviously I saw Oscar driving far left and I understand that under the red flag you can’t overtake. But waiting for Oscar to pit behind the damaged car, for me it’s just waiting for debris to hit me.
“I saw the tyre was going sideways and I thought the tyre was going to fly away. Obviously I knew that, so I went far right. I checked the car ahead of Oscar, the car behind myself, make sure there’s no one. I went far left, opposite way to overtake him with a sensible speed which was 170kmh.
“Half the speed of the speed that we normally drive and I got a penalty. So having 10-place is ridiculous for me. I don’t know what they want me to do. Apparently they want me to stay behind Oscar to not overtake. But for me it’s just hoping that debris won’t hit me.
“I don’t understand with this, especially the car having damage, driving very slow. I don’t think I deserve this 10-place [penalty].”
Why was Tsunoda penalised in Canada?
The FIA released a report to confirm why Tsunoda was penalised. The race stewards confirmed:
“Car 22 overtook Car 81 under red flag. (Breach of Appendix H, Article 2.5.4.1 b) of the International Sporting Code.
“Drop of 10 grid positions for the next Race in which the driver participates.
2 penalty points (total of 2 for the 12 month period).
“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 22 (Yuki Tsunoda), team representative and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry and in-car video evidence.
“Car 81 (Piastri) had earlier collided with the barrier at the exit of turn 14 and damaged the rear right wheel and sustained a puncture and suspension damage. A red flag was displayed when Car 22 was at turn 6. Car 22 reduced speed at that point. After turn 12, Car 22 was approaching Car 81 on the back straight. The driver of Car 22 said that he saw Car 81 travelling slowly on the left side of the track with obvious damage. He said that he was worried that he might be struck by debris from Car 81 and decided to overtake.
“Telemetry showed that Car 81 was travelling at 86kph when Car 22 overtook at a speed of 171kph.
“Having considered the matter extensively, the Stewards determined that while Car 81 had an obvious problem, it was not travelling at such a speed that it prevented Car 22 from following it at a safe distance. The circumstances were such that there was no justifiable reason for the driver of Car 22 to have overtaken Car 81.”
The 2025 Canadian Grand Prix is set for Sunday, 15 June and 2 p.m. local time.
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