Racing Bulls respond to Audi appeal as Yuki Tsunoda faces jeopardy

Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane has addressed Audi's appeal against the stewards' decision not to punish Yuki Tsunoda for a start infringement at the Italian Grand Prix.

The German marque initially lodged its intention with the FIA after Tsunoda scored a point at Monza, with confirmation coming on media day for the Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring.

Following Charles Leclerc's red flag-triggering crash, Tsunoda lined up P14, but initially approached the wrong side of the grid before correcting his line and stopping in his allocated box.

His car was left at an angle towards the pit wall, prompting race director Rui Marques to abort the restart and order an additional formation lap. Under Article B5.9.4 of the sporting regulations, a driver deemed responsible for an extra formation lap must normally enter the pit lane and restart from there.

However, the stewards found Tsunoda had remained within his grid box and that the decision to run another formation lap was Marques' call.

Crucially, Racing Bulls had not been informed that Tsunoda was considered responsible, meaning it had no reason to instruct him to pit. The stewards therefore ruled that the extra lap resulted from the race director's assessment rather than being directly caused by Tsunoda.

Audi disagrees with that interpretation and stands to gain a point if the appeal succeeds. Gabriel Bortoleto finished P11, seven seconds behind Tsunoda, so overturning the decision would promote the Brazilian driver into P10 and hand him the final point.

"We raised a concern regarding the application of Article B5.9.4, which requires a driver who causes an extra formation lap to enter the pit lane and resume the race from there," Audi said in a statement. "The stewards issued a decision of No Further Action, and we have notified our intention to appeal."

Permane reacts to the appeal

Permane's response, meanwhile, came with a hint of humour. The Racing Bulls boss is set for another trip to Paris after the team's involvement in the FIA International Court of Appeal's recent hearing over the Monaco Grand Prix, where McLaren and Red Bull successfully appealed the reinstatement of Pierre Gasly's penalties.

That hearing took place in late August, with the decision published on 3 September during the Italian Grand Prix weekend.

"Well, it’s always nice to have a night out in Paris, first of all, or a second one in quick succession," Permane joked to media, including RacingNews365. "Look, we’ll go there, obviously, and defend the team and defend Yuki.

"I can’t really go into it more than that while it’s still an open case. Well, actually, it’s not even an open case yet because I don’t think it’s been… We haven’t even had a notification from the FIA to say.

"But I’m sure that will go ahead, and I guess, at some point in late October, we’ll head to Paris."