Audi have officially submitted an appeal to the FIA following Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza, potentially threatening the final race result.
The German manufacturer is challenging the decision not to penalise Racing Bulls driver Yuki Tsunoda for an incident that occurred during the formation lap before the race start.
Tsunoda, competing in just his second Formula 1 race of the season, mistakenly headed toward the 15th place grid slot when he was actually assigned 14th position on the grid.
The 26-year-old noticed the error at the last possible moment, quickly correcting course and veering across to his correct grid slot before the race got underway.
Although Tsunoda managed to get his car into the correct position within the required parameters, his vehicle was left sitting at an awkward angle relative to the pitwall.
Race director Rui Marques observed Tsunoda’s unusual positioning and made the call to send the field out for an additional formation lap as a precaution.
Tsunoda was subsequently investigated for a potential breach of Article B5.9.4 of the sporting regulations, which states that any driver who causes an extra formation lap must enter the pit lane and start from the end of it.
The Racing Bulls driver did not follow that procedure, instead taking up his regular grid position, but the stewards accepted Racing Bulls’ arguments that Tsunoda was correctly placed and had not affected any other driver on the grid.
Tsunoda went on to finish 10th and claim the final championship point on offer, crossing the line just ahead of Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg, which makes the appeal particularly significant for the team.
Audi issued a statement after the race confirming they had “raised a concern regarding the application of Article B5.9.4” and signalled their intention to pursue the matter formally through the FIA’s appeal process.
That statement opened a 96-hour window for the team to lodge a formal appeal, and Audi have now confirmed they have done exactly that within the required timeframe.
The team’s official statement read: “Following the Italian Grand Prix, the team 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.”
The statement continued: “We can confirm that an appeal has been submitted within the 96-hour window mandated by the regulations. As the matter is now subject to the FIA appeal process, we will not comment further at this stage.”
A breach of the relevant regulation typically results in a stop/go penalty during the race, and since the grand prix has concluded, that punishment would instead be converted into a 30-second time addition.
Should Audi’s appeal prove successful and Tsunoda receive that 30-second penalty, he would drop from 10th to 15th place in the final race classification.
That outcome would promote Bortoleto into the points-paying positions, making the stakes of this appeal extremely high for both sides involved in the dispute.