Yuki Tsunoda has officially retained his first Formula 1 points finish of the season after being cleared of an alleged restart infringement at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
The Japanese driver finished 10th and secured a single point in his first race back with Racing Bulls, replacing Liam Lawson. However, the result was under threat following a post-race stewards' investigation into Tsunoda's grid position during the restart after a lengthy red flag period caused by Charles Leclerc's heavy crash.
Tsunoda was flagged for parking out of his grid box while taking up 14th position on the restart. Nevertheless, the FIA stewards determined that Tsunoda was not in what constitutes a "false start" position and took into account the race director's explanation that he decided to commence an extra formation lap out of caution.
The decision came as a relief for Yuki Tsunoda and his team. The stewards confirmed that no further action would be taken against the driver.
In their official statement, the stewards explained that car #22 initially approached the grid heading for the left-hand side, but then realized the mistake and moved to the correct grid box. The car's position was verified through multiple camera angles. The race director, giving evidence, admitted he was not comfortable starting the race with the car in that position, prompting his decision for an extra formation lap.
The team representative also presented several arguments that convinced the stewards, including the fact that no contact patch of the front tyres was outside the grid box lines, meaning it did not meet the definition of a "false start" under the regulations. Additionally, no other driver was impacted by the position of Tsunoda's car, and Tsunoda was not the direct cause of the extra formation lap.
The stewards agreed with these points and concluded that the extra formation lap resulted from the race director's assessment rather than a mistake by Tsunoda. They also referred to regulations stating that a penalty only applies if a driver who causes the extra formation lap fails to enter the pit lane at the end of that lap.
This outcome is a boost for Racing Bulls as they battle in the constructors' championship. Tsunoda delivered a solid performance at Monza, showing impressive form after being reinstated in the seat following Lawson's loan to another team.
With this result, Tsunoda now has his first point of the season and will look to build on this momentum in the upcoming rounds.
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