FIA sets court hearing date in Audi F1 appeal against Yuki Tsunoda
Yuki Tsunoda could lose his 10th-place finish at Monza if Audi's appeal is successful
The FIA has confirmed that an International Court of Appeal hearing into the Audi F1 team’s challenge against Yuki Tsunoda’s 10th-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix will take place in Paris on Wednesday November 25.
The date will fall between the Las Vegas and Qatar grands prix.
FIA sets date for Court of Appeal hearing into Audi F1’s Yuki Tsunoda challenge
Tsunoda made three appearances for the Racing Bulls team after the summer break following an injury to Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar.
The Japanese driver scored a single point on his return to action, finishing 10th at September’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where Audi F1 pair Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg finished 11th and 12th respectively.
Tsunoda had been due to start 14th, but initially went to line up in 15th on the opposite side of the grid.
Realising his mistake, Tsunoda cut across the track at the last moment, leaving his car at an awkward angle and leading to FIA race director Rui Marques declaring an additional formation lap.
Tsunoda went on to start the race from his original position and finished 10th, with Bortoleto and Hulkenberg crossing the line seven and eight seconds behind in 11th and 12th.
Audi submitted an appeal against Tsunoda’s result three days after the race, after confirming it had “raised a concern regarding the application of Article B5.9.4” of the sporting regulations after Tsunoda went unpunished following an investigation into an alleged start procedure infringement.
Article B5.9.4 reads: “Any driver who caused an extra formation lap, and is then able to start the, or any subsequent, extra formation lap must enter the Pit Lane at the end of the lap and must start the [session] from the end of the Pit Lane.
“A Stop-and-Go Penalty will be imposed on any driver who fails to start the [session] from the Pit Lane.”
Go deeper: What is the FIA?
FIA explained: What does it stand for and how does it govern F1?
Concorde Agreement explained: Who signs it, what it means and why it’s vital for F1
Tsunoda avoided a penalty on the day, with the FIA stewards opting to take no further action after accepting Racing Bulls’ explanation that Tsunoda did not explicitly cause an extra formation lap, with the decision for an additional formation lap taken by Marques.
A section of the stewards’ verdict at Monza read: “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.”
Another section added: “The Stewards agree with the points [made by a Racing Bulls team representative] 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.”
The stewards also explained their decision to take no further action against Tsunoda, while recommending that the FIA establish a procedure to inform drivers and teams if they are specifically the cause of extra formation laps in the future.
They wrote: “Article B5.9.4 goes on to specify that if a driver who causes the extra formation lap and is then able to start the extra formation lap, he must enter the Pit Lane at the end of the lap and start from the Pit Lane.
“It is only then, if the driver fails to do this, that the mandatory penalty of a Stop and Go penalty is imposed.
“In other words, the penalty is for failing to come into the Pit Lane and start from there.
“The penalty is not for causing the extra formation lap, if indeed, he caused the extra formation lap in the first place.
“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.
“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.
“Accordingly, irrespective of whether or not the driver directly caused the extra formation lap, the team and driver were unaware that they were being considered as the cause, therefore we determine that we are unable to impose a Stop and Go penalty in this case, and decide to take no further action.
“We note that the Race Director acted in good faith and out of an abundance of caution in ordering an extra formation lap.
“We further note that the FIA might wish to consider implementing a process to advise teams and drivers if they are considered to be the cause of an extra formation lap, so that they are then able to comply with the requirements of Article B5.9.4.”
Read next: Red Bull signs new reserve driver for F1 2027 season
