Yuki Tsunoda tried playing traffic cone for Max Verstappen’s title hopes. Instead, he handed Lando Norris a free pass whilst collecting a five-second penalty and a penalty point for his troubles. Brilliant strategy from Red Bull, that. Deploy your departing driver to weave across the track like he’s testing an autonomous obstacle course, then watch the stewards penalise him whilst clearing your rival of any wrongdoing.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix delivered the most predictable team tactics imaginable. Red Bull left Tsunoda out on hard tyres, extending his opening stint to create maximum nuisance for the McLarens after their pit stops. When Norris caught the Japanese driver on the long back straight between turns five and six, Tsunoda weaved more than a drunk spider building a web.
Multiple changes of direction. Breaking the tow. Moving left as Norris committed to the inside. Classic last-ditch defending from someone with absolutely nothing to lose except his F1 career, which was already gone anyway.
Norris went around him. With all four wheels beyond the white line. Technically off-track. Definitely gaining an advantage. Absolutely deserving of investigation.
Except the stewards decided Tsunoda’s weaving forced Norris off the circuit, which means the McLaren driver wasn’t exceeding track limits. He was avoiding a collision. Different thing entirely, apparently.
When Your Tactics Penalise You Instead of Your Rival
Both drivers got investigated. Tsunoda for forcing another driver off track. Norris for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. The stewards reviewed video evidence, team radio, and onboard footage before delivering their verdict during the race.
Tsunoda? Five-second time penalty. Plus one penalty point on his licence, bringing his total to eight for the current 12-month period. He’s now four points from an automatic race ban, which would matter enormously if he hadn’t already been replaced by Isack Hadjar for 2026.
Norris? Absolutely nothing. No further action. Championship intact. Third place secured. Title won by two points.
“Car four was making an overtaking move on car 22. Car 22 made a number of changes of direction which ultimately resulted in car four having to go off track to avoid a collision. In doing so, car 22 also effectively forced car four off the track.” – FIA Stewards
The stewards’ logic makes sense if you actually think about it. The FIA’s driving standards guidelines state that more than one change of direction to defend position isn’t permitted. Drivers moving back towards the racing line must leave at least one car width between their vehicle and the track edge.
Tsunoda did neither. He weaved multiple times, broke the slipstream, then moved left again as Norris tried passing. That’s textbook forcing another driver off the circuit. Which means when Norris went beyond the white line, he was reacting to illegal defending rather than deliberately gaining an advantage.
The Penalty That Wouldn’t Have Changed Anything Anyway
Here’s the beautiful irony. Even if the stewards had penalised Norris with a 10-second penalty, it probably wouldn’t have cost him the championship. He finished seven seconds clear of fourth-placed Charles Leclerc under the chequered flag. A 10-second penalty would’ve dropped him behind the Ferrari, but Oscar Piastri would’ve simply slowed down to let his teammate back onto the podium.
McLaren’s entire weekend strategy revolved around getting Norris that third-place finish. If penalties threatened that objective, they’d have sacrificed Piastri’s position without hesitation. Team orders would’ve materialised faster than Ferrari’s strategic incompetence.
Zak Brown defended the stewards’ decision during the race broadcast, calling Tsunoda’s weaving “dangerous and unnecessary.”
“It’s a team sport, so I’m not surprised the second car is going to help out, but there’s got to be a limit. They’re not driving the car so you’ve got to put that one on Yuki for, in my opinion, going over the line. That was a dangerous manoeuvre.” – Zak Brown, McLaren Racing CEO
Fair point from Brown. Using your second driver to obstruct championship rivals is accepted practice. Sergio Perez spent years doing precisely that for Verstappen. But there’s legitimate defending and there’s weaving across the track multiple times whilst someone’s trying to overtake at 250kph.
Tsunoda’s Farewell Gift to Red Bull
This incident perfectly encapsulates Tsunoda’s final races with Red Bull. Dropped after five years, deployed as a strategic pawn, then penalised for trying too hard to help the team that just binned him. He even told his engineers over the radio he knew what to do when they left him out on hard tyres.
What he actually did was gift Norris a free pass whilst collecting punishment himself. Red Bull’s tactical brilliance strikes again. Deploy your departing driver to impede your rival, watch him get penalised, achieve absolutely nothing except confirming why you’re replacing him.
Liam Lawson also collected a five-second penalty and penalty point for erratic driving during the same race. Both Red Bull juniors spending their final weekend collecting penalties whilst their senior teammate fought for championships. What a farewell tour.
The Guidelines That Actually Worked
Credit where it’s marginally due: the stewards applied the FIA’s driving standards guidelines correctly. Those rules state that if a car is “forced off” the track, it’s not considered to have exceeded track limits. Which is precisely what happened when Tsunoda’s multiple defensive moves left Norris with two choices: go off-track or collect the Red Bull at high speed.
“The driver of car four overtook car 22 off track however this occurred because the driver of car 22 made multiple moves defending his position. Had car 22 not made those moves, car four would have overtaken it without going off track but moved off track to avoid contact with car 22.” – FIA Stewards
Drivers must make every reasonable effort to use the track at all times. But they’re also entitled to take evasive action when faced with illegal defending. Norris chose avoiding a collision over strict track limits adherence. The stewards recognised that distinction and declined to penalise him.
Controversy avoided. Championship decided correctly. Justice served. For once, the FIA’s penalty system worked exactly as intended, even if it meant Red Bull’s tactical deployment backfired spectacularly.
When Team Orders Meet Penalty Points
The real question nobody’s asking: did Red Bull instruct Tsunoda to weave, or did he improvise? Team radio suggested they told him to make life difficult for the McLarens. How he interpreted those instructions remains unclear.
Either way, Tsunoda’s now sitting on eight penalty points with nowhere to use them. Four points from a race ban he’ll never serve because he’s already been replaced. That’s the perfect metaphor for his entire Red Bull experience. Collecting punishment for trying desperately to prove his worth to an organisation that’s already decided he’s not good enough.
Meanwhile, Norris drives off into the sunset as world champion. Verstappen finishes with the race win but not the title. And Tsunoda boards a plane to Tokyo wondering if maybe he should’ve just let the McLaren through without all the theatrical weaving.
At least his penalty point collection is impressive? Eight in 12 months takes genuine commitment to questionable driving decisions. Perhaps that can be his legacy. The driver who almost got banned whilst getting dropped.
