Yuki Tsunoda slates FIA over 'ridiculous' penalty

Yuki Tsunoda has criticised the FIA stewards for handing him what he feels is a "ridiculous" 10-place grid penalty for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Red Bull driver Tsunoda was hit hard after overtaking McLaren's Oscar Piastri under red-flag conditions during final practice at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after the Australian had hit the 'Wall of Champions' in his McLaren.

The MCL39 sustained an instant puncture to the right-rear tyre, leading to a slow drive back to the pits for Piastri. With debris on the circuit, including from the Stake of Nico Hulkenberg after the German spun out of the final chicane and clipped the same wall with his rear wing, the session was red-flagged.

Catching up with Piastri out of the hairpin and onto the back straight, Japanese driver opted to pass the crawling McLaren to avoid being hit by further debris potentially coming off his rival's car.

Telemetry showed that when Tsunoda past Piastri, he was travelling at 171kph, compared to 81kph for the Australian.

The stewards claimed in their report that they "considered the matter extensively", but ultimately determined that despite Piastri having a problem, he was "not travelling at such a speed that it prevented Tsunoda from following at a safe distance". Ultimately, there "was no justifiable reason" for Tsunoda to have overtaken Piastri.

Appreciably, Tsunoda was not happy.

"I'm not really sure I deserve that penalty because I don't know what they [the stewards] want me to do," said Tsunoda, speaking to the media, including RacingNews365.

"Oscar had massive damage, spreading debris all over the place, from the last corner through to the end of the lap. He was driving 80 kilometres per hour on the back straight, [was on the] far left [of the track], and he did a good job of avoiding a collision with other drivers.

"I saw Oscar was driving far left, and I understand that under the red flag, you can't overtake. But waiting for Oscar to pit, behind a damaged car, is just waiting for debris to hit me.

"I saw the tyre was going sideways and I thought the tyre was going to fly away, so I went far right. I checked the car in front of Oscar, the car behind me, making sure there was no one.

"I went the opposite way to overtake him, with a sensible speed of 170 kilometres per hour, half the speed of what we normally drive, and I got a penalty. Ten places is ridiculous for me. I don't know what they want me to do.

"Apparently, they wanted me to stay behind Oscar, not to overtake. But for me, I'm hoping that debris won't hit me.

"I don't understand this, especially the car having damage, driving very slow. I don't think I deserve this 10 place [penalty]."

Tsunoda qualified 11th, but due to the penalty, it means he will start 20th for the second time in four grands prix after doing so in Imola.

There is a possibility the team will make set-up changes which, under parc fermé conditions, could result in a pit-lane start, as was the case for the Emilia Romagna GP.

Conceding to his situation being "very frustrating", Tsunoda said that his P11 in qualifying was "not the worst probably".

He added: "Obviously, it's not good enough at all. I don't normally start like this, P20, that often, the last two years at least.

"It's not an experience that I'm enjoying at all. But it is what it is. Time to make the position up."