Just In: FIA announce Red Bull Penalty decision after Re…read more
FIA announce Red Bull Penalty decision after Re…read more
The FIA has published its official ruling on Red Bull Racing’s request submitted in the aftermath of Saturday qualifying at Imola, clearing Yuki Tsunoda to line up on Sunday’s grid despite his bruising Q1 accident.
Round seven of the 2025 Formula One season unfolds today, 18 May, at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, and Red Bull arrive under pressure. With only a single victory so far—Max Verstappen’s win in Melbourne—the defending champions sit a muted third in the constructors’ table. Their early-season struggles prompted the team to swap drivers after the Japanese Grand Prix, promoting Tsunoda to the senior outfit and returning Liam Lawson to the sidelines. Four race weekends in, the 25-year-old is still acclimatising to the RB21; his best finish, ninth in Bahrain, has added only a handful of points to Red Bull’s tally, leaving Christian Horner and motorsport consultant Helmut Marko calling for a swift turnaround.
Hopes of that revival took a heavy blow during Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session. In the opening minutes of Q1, Tsunoda clipped the high Imola kerbs at Variante Alta, the car snapping sideways before launching skyward and barrel-rolling into the catch fencing. The spectacular accident red-flagged the session and silenced the grandstands, but remarkably, the Japanese driver emerged unhurt after the medical evaluation. The RB21, however, was too damaged to continue, and Tsunoda recorded no representative lap time, officially classified as “Did Not Qualify.”
Recognising that their new recruit had completed competitive practice laps earlier in the weekend, Red Bull petitioned the stewards under Article 39.4 (b) of the FIA Sporting Regulations, which allows a driver who fails to set a qualifying time to start at the stewards’ discretion if satisfactory speed has been demonstrated in free practice. Late on Saturday evening the FIA released its decision:
> “The stewards have received a request from Oracle Red Bull Racing to allow car 22 to start the race despite failing to set a lap time in Q1. In accordance with Article 39.4 (b) of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations, the stewards grant permission for car 22, Yuki Tsunoda, to start the race, as the driver has set satisfactory times in practice at this competition. The car will be placed on the grid in accordance with Article 42.1 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.”
The ruling means Tsunoda avoids a pit-lane start and will occupy the twentieth and final grid slot. While beginning from the back at Imola—a circuit notorious for its narrow layout and limited overtaking opportunities—poses a daunting challenge, starting on the grid rather than from the pits preserves strategic flexibility. Red Bull mechanics have worked overnight to rebuild the RB21 around a spare chassis, ensuring it meets parc fermé conditions and incurring no additional penalties beyond the mandatory change of certain damaged components.
Team-mate Max Verstappen, meanwhile, qualified on the front row and will chase his second win of the campaign, aiming to chip away at Ferrari’s early championship lead. Yet much of Sunday’s intrigue centres on whether Tsunoda can slice through the midfield, score points, and validate the team’s mid-season driver shuffle. For Red Bull, a double-points finish would steady the ship; for Tsunoda, a spirited recovery drive could cement his place in one of Formula One’s most scrutinised seats. The lights go out at 15:00 local time, with 63 laps of Emilia-Romagna drama awaiting.
