(Motorsport-Total.com) – So the race result is not yet set with one hundred percent certainty: The Audi team has informed the FIA of its intention to appeal against the missing penalty for Yuki Tsunoda at the 2026 Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
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Amid uncertainties about where he should line up at the restart in lap 6, Tsunoda parked his car in the correct 14th starting position, but angled towards the inner wall. Race director Rui Marques felt “uncomfortable” with Tsunoda’s position and therefore ordered an additional formation lap.
According to Article B5.9.4 of the 2026 Formula 1 Sporting Regulations, “any driver who caused an additional formation lap and is subsequently able to start this or a following additional formation lap must enter the pit lane at the end of the lap and must […] start from the end of the pit lane.”
Explained: Why Tsunoda was initially not penalized
According to the FIA race stewards, Tsunoda technically did not cause the additional formation lap because the race director acted out of excessive caution, Tsunoda was not outside his starting box, and he did not impede other participants.
The core of the problem is that the race management also did not inform Racing Bulls that their driver had caused the additional formation lap. Therefore, the team had no reason to instruct Tsunoda to start from the pit lane.
Tsunoda avoided a stop-and-go penalty and subsequently scored the last point as tenth. The decision not to penalize the Japanese driver affected Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto, who crossed the finish line in eleventh. As a result, Audi has informed the FIA of its intention to appeal against the missing penalty for Tsunoda.
The Audi statement in full
“After the Italian Grand Prix, we expressed concerns regarding the application of Article B5.9.4, according to which a driver who causes an additional formation lap must enter the pit lane and restart the race from there,” Audi explained in a statement. “The race stewards decided not to take further action, and we have communicated our intention to appeal. Since the matter is now subject to the FIA’s appeal procedure, we will not comment further at this time.”
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According to Article 15.4 of the FIA International Sporting Code, participants have one hour after the race stewards’ decision to notify their intention to appeal. This does not yet mean that Audi will actually file an appeal against the ruling. However, it gives the team an additional 96-hour window to further review the case and determine whether there is a reason to appeal before actually filing one.
This was the original ruling
In their ruling on the Tsunoda case, the race stewards stated: “The additional formation lap resulted from the race director’s assessment of the situation and was not directly caused by the driver of car number 22.”
“Furthermore, Article B5.9.4 stipulates that a driver who causes the additional formation lap and is subsequently able to start the additional formation lap must enter the pit lane at the end of the lap and start from the pit lane. Only if the driver fails to do so is the mandatory stop-and-go penalty imposed.”
“In other words: The penalty is imposed for not entering the pit lane and starting from there. The penalty is not imposed for causing the additional formation lap, provided he caused it at all.”
“Here lies a crucial problem, because to comply with the obligation to enter the pit lane and start from there, a driver would have to know that he was the cause of the additional formation lap. Since the car was positioned within its starting box in accordance with the regulations, the team had, in our assessment, no reason to instruct its driver to enter the pit lane and start from there.”
“Accordingly, the team and the driver were not aware, regardless of whether the driver directly caused the additional formation lap or not, that they were considered the cause. Therefore, we conclude that we cannot impose a stop-and-go penalty in this case and decide not to take further action.”