Yuki Tsunoda punished by stewards during Qatar sprint

Yuki Tsunoda has been handed a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits on multiple occasions during the sprint race ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix.

Starting from fifth on the grid after out-qualifying Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen for the first time this season in any format, Tsunoda made a positive start by easing past Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso to temporarily claim fourth.

Verstappen, however, was also superb off the line as he found a way past Alonso before then attacking Tsunoda through the first few corners to slot into fourth himself.

Running in a comfortable fifth position over the following laps, with no threat from behind, Tsunoda was initially handed a black-and-white flag for his track limits infractions before finally netting the time penalty.

Tsunoda crossed the line in fifth position behind the race-winner in McLaren's Oscar Piastri, but with the penalty relegating him to sixth behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli.

However, with Antonelli receiving his own five-second penalty for track limits violations late on, the positions were then reversed.