Tsunoda hit with penalty for pre-race run-in with Norris

RB driver Yuki Tsunoda has been hit with a post-race five-second time penalty following an unsafe release from his garage in the build-up to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The Japanese driver emerged from his garage in front of McLaren's Lando Norris, forcing the Briton to lock up as he slammed on his brakes in avoidance.

Despite the incident taking place before the race, the stewards still opted to impose a penalty.

Tsunoda apology

"The Stewards reviewed video, team radio and in-car video evidence and heard from the drivers and team representatives of Car 22 and Car 4 and determined that Car 22 was released unsafely from the garage during the reconnaissance lap into the path of Car 4 which had to take evasive action to avoid a collision.

"The driver of Car 22 admitted that he did not see the Number 1 in his team signalling not to come out as his attention was diverted towards exiting the car from the garage.

"He apologised for his oversight.

"An unsafe release during the race (which would include the reconnaissance lap) would typically attract a five-second time penalty, which is what we imposed.

"In addition, for an infringement of this nature, it would be appropriate to award 1 penalty point. Given that this took place during the reconnaissance lap as opposed to the race proper, we decided to not impose the penalty point."