Audi to appeal Italian GP decision after FIA stewards’ verdict

Audi has issued a statement saying it will appeal a stewards’ decision regarding Yuki Tsunoda at the Italian GP, with a point at stake if an appeal is successful.

A second formation lap was called at the restart when Tsunoda appeared out of shape in his grid box at Monza, with Audi set to stand to gain if the decision is reversed.

Audi to appeal stewards Italian GP verdict after Yuki Tsunoda restart issue

Tsunoda took 10th place ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto at Monza and, with every point crucial in the Constructors’ Championship, especially in the midfield, Audi believes the regulations were incorrectly applied after a second formation lap was taken.

The stand-in Racing Bulls driver turned into his grid box late at the red flag restart, which caused him to be out of shape in the grid box and, with that deemed unsafe, the field undertook another lap before the race restarted in earnest.

However, Audi cited Article B5.9.4 of the FIA Sporting Regulations, which states that drivers to cause a formation lap then being required to restart the race from the pit lane.

Tsunoda resumed from his grid slot, but a pit-lane start would have been an advantage for Audi in its fight to reach the points-paying positions.

Tsunoda had been noted over a potential start procedure infringement, but the stewards decided to take no further action.

A Racing Bulls team representative had argued that Tsunoda was not in fact the ’cause’ of the extra formation lap, and the team had not been made aware of this being the case.

In their verdict, the stewards noted: “The Race Director, in evidence, stated that it was his call, based on the behaviour of the car on the approach to the grid box, to commence an extra formation lap. He stated he was not comfortable starting the race with the car in that position.

“The Stewards agree with [Racing Bulls’ argument, ed.] and consider that the extra formation lap resulted from the Race Director’s assessment of the situation, rather than being directly caused by the driver of Car 22.

“A critical issue emerges here, in that in order to comply with the requirement to enter and start from the Pit Lane, a driver would need to know that he was the cause of the extra formation lap.

“The team representative quoted situations where extra formation laps have been commenced due to extraneous circumstances such as the position of a photographer etc. In this case, no message was sent to the team or the driver, advising them that they were the cause of the extra formation lap.

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“The team, based on the fact that the car was positioned within its starting grid box in compliance with the regulations, had, in our determination, no reason to instruct its driver to enter and start from the Pit Lane.”

Audi, however, has taken issue with this, and has chosen to appeal on regulatory grounds.

“Following the Italian Grand Prix, we raised a concern regarding the application of Article B5.9.4, which requires a driver who causes an extra formation lap to enter the pit lane and resume the race from there,” Audi said.

“The Stewards issued a decision of No Further Action, and we have notified our intention to appeal. As the matter is now subject to the FIA appeal process, we will not comment further at this stage.”

Audi currently sits eighth in the Constructors’ standings, five points behind Haas.

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