Yuki Tsunoda under threat as FIA launches investigation over Lando Norris incident
Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda has been left without a seat for F1 2026
The FIA has launched an investigation over an impeding incident between Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda and McLaren’s Lando Norris in FP3 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Mercedes driver George Russell topped the final practice session of the F1 2025 season at the Yas Marina circuit on Saturday, edging out championship leader Norris by 0.004 seconds.
Yuki Tsunoda under investigation by FIA over Lando Norris incident in Abu Dhabi GP FP3
The FIA has announced a €10,000 fine for Red Bull and an official warning for Yuki Tsunoda since this article was originally published
Tsunoda’s Red Bull teammate and reigning four-time world champion Max Verstappen, who sits 12 points behind Norris, was third.
Norris encountered a slow-moving Tsunoda on the approach to Turn 12, the tight right hander marking the start of the hotel section, at the halfway stage of FP3.
The McLaren driver was forced to take avoiding action and head into the run-off area. Tsunoda was seen holding an arm out of his cockpit in apology to Norris.
Yuki Tsunoda vs Max Verstappen: Red Bull Racing head-to-head scores for F1 2025
👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates
👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
The FIA has launched an investigation over the incident with Tsunoda and Norris, along with team representatives of the Red Bull and McLaren teams, required to meet the stewards at 1600 local time in Abu Dhabi.
Norris’s near miss with Tsunoda comes 24 hours after the world championship leader had a close call with Verstappen in Friday’s FP2 session in Abu Dhabi.
As reported by PlanetF1.com, Verstappen eased his pace after completing a flying lap with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase initially informing the Dutchman that Norris was not on a push lap behind.
However, Lambiase soon realised that Norris actually was pushing with Verstappen forced to jink out of the McLaren’s way on the exit of Turn 1.
The incident was briefly noted but no investigation was deemed necessary.
More on Yuki Tsunoda and Red Bull Racing from PlanetF1.com
Red Bull announced earlier this week that Tsunoda will take a test-and-reserve role for the F1 2026 season having been replaced by Isack Hadjar.
Hadjar will become Verstappen’s new teammate with Arvid Lindblad stepping up from F2 to partner Liam Lawson at the Racing Bulls sister team.
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