Audi commits to appeal against Tsunoda's Italian GP result

The Audi Formula 1 team will follow through with its intention to appeal Yuki Tsunoda's lack of penalty for causing an extra formation lap in the Italian Grand Prix, Autosport understands.

Tsunoda caused an extra formation lap at the restart of the Monza race as race director Rui Marques was not comfortable with the way the Japanese driver lined up in his grid box, angled towards the pitwall.

FIA's race stewards reviewed the incident after the race, but decided not to hand Tsunoda the customary stop-and-go penalty, which would have been converted into a 30-second time penalty.

According to Article B5.9.4 of the F1 2026 sporting regulations, "any driver who caused an extra formation lap, and is then able to start the, or any subsequent, extra formation lap must enter the pitlane at the end of the lap and must start... from the end of the pitlane."

But Tsunoda's Racing Bulls team argued that its driver was not out of his grid slot and didn't impact his competitors. Race director Marques also explained that he acted out of an abundance of caution.

As a result, the team hadn't been notified by race control that Tsunoda was the cause of the extra formation lap, so it had no reason to tell its driver to start from pit exit instead.

Gabriel Bortoleto stands to gain as he finished 11th

Photo by: Alessio Morgese

The stewards agreed with that interpretation of the rules, but Audi soon lodged an intention to appeal. The German team was affected by the non-penalty as Gabriel Bortoleto finished one position behind Tsunoda in 11th and would be promoted into a points-paying position if Tsunoda's verdict is overturned.

By notifying the FIA of its intention to appeal, Audi gave itself a 96-hour window to further study the rulebook, build a case and decide whether or not to follow through with the appeal. That time window closes on Thursday night and sources have now confirmed to Autosport that Audi will follow through with the appeal procedure.

It is understood that Audi feels the rulebook is black and white on drivers being penalised for causing an extra formation lap. There is an argument that because the race director felt Tsunoda's start position was enough of a reason to abort the start, Tsunoda should have started from the pitlane regardless.

Whether or not the appeal is enough to overturn Tsunoda's decision, the team is keen to get clarification from the race stewards for future occasions. The FIA has yet to set a date for the appeal hearing.