Former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports analyst Martin Brundle has argued that Red Bull’s team radio instructions to Yuki Tsunoda during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix were “bordering on menacing”.
The Milton Keynes outfit knew that the moment would come in the season-ending race at Yas Marina Circuit when championship leader Lando Norris would need to pass Tsunoda after a pitstop. With Tsunoda’s team-mate Max Verstappen fighting Norris for the championship title, the team told the Japanese driver “you know what to do” over the team radio as the McLaren approached his rear.
While Red Bull had likely hoped that Tsunoda would have held Norris up for at least a few turns, the McLaren driver overtook him fairly quickly but was forced off the track in the process.
The stewards launched two investigations, one for Tsunoda potentially forcing Norris off the track and another for Norris possibly leaving the track and gaining an advantage. For Norris, the stewards deemed no further action was required, and Tsunoda was handed a five-second penalty for forcing the Briton off the track.
“I really don’t mind a bit of strategic team play, everybody has two cars to use at their competitive best, but the ‘you know what to do’ radio calls were bordering on menacing, along with him being told the gap from Norris to Leclerc of 1.4 seconds,” Brundle wrote in his Sky Sports F1 column.
“Yuki should have backed Lando up from the tight turns 12 through to Turn Five on the next lap, that would have been relatively easy and very effective. Instead, he chose to weave down the back straight like a drunken sailor while breaching the regulations, and eventually forcing Norris to pass on a filthy part of the track, which became actually, off the track.”
Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Jayce Illman / Getty Images
Brundle agreed with the stewards’ decision.
“Tsunoda rightly got a five-second penalty for that clear breach, but what of Norris’ pass off-track and maintaining an advantage? He couldn’t hand the place back because Leclerc had now passed Tsunoda too. Fortunately for Norris, the stewards made a rational decision,” he added.
Tsunoda parted ways with Red Bull at the end of the season and is set to be replaced by Isack Hadjar for 2026.
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