Explained: How Red Bull blunder doubled Yuki Tsunoda's pain

Red Bull have admitted that their own mistake led to Yuki Tsunoda receiving a double penalty at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Tsunoda had a rotten weekend in Brazil and finished 17th and last of the classified runners after picking up two 10-second time penalties.

The first was for colliding with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, before Tsunoda was given a second 10-second time penalty for failing to properly serve his initial punishment.

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies conceded that this was an operational error on the team side.

"With Yuki, he lost a lot of time today with his 10-second penalty and then we made a mistake on our side and incurred another. So, it is a shame that it doesn't seem to be going our way with Yuki,” he explained.

"His last stint was strong and if you removed those two penalties, he would have ended up fighting for points. We will be wishing to have a slightly quieter weekend in Vegas but with everyone's support again at track and back home on Campus, we will be ready to fight no matter the circumstances."

The FIA stewards’ document revealed that a Red Bull mechanic started working on Tsunoda’s car before the 10-second penalty had elapsed when he was in the pits.

"The Stewards reviewed video evidence which showed that Car 22 entered the pit lane to serve a 10-second time penalty,” the stewards said.

“While the car was stationary for the purpose of serving the penalty, a mechanic immediately began working on the car by loosening the left rear wheel nut with a wheel gun before the 10 seconds had elapsed," the stewards noted.

"Under Article 54.4 c) of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations, no work may be carried out on a car while a time penalty is being served. For the avoidance of doubt, any physical contact with the car, whether by hand, tool or equipment, constitutes “working” on the car.

"As the mechanic initiated work before the expiry of the penalty period, the penalty was not served correctly. The Stewards therefore impose an additional 10-second time penalty.”

Writing on the wall for Tsunoda?

Tsunoda’s latest difficult weekend did nothing to boost his chances of remaining on the grid next year.

The Japanese racer is expected to be replaced at Red Bull by Isack Hajdar, and there is no guarantee he will return to sister team Racing Bulls for 2026, meaning he could be left without a drive.

Reflecting on his miserable weekend, Tsunoda said:"The whole weekend has been a difficult one for myself. We tried lots of things as a team, some which worked and others that didn't. I had a good start to the race on the hard tyre and made up a couple of positions before using the safety car to pit early.

"Unfortunately, there was contact with Lance and I had to serve a penalty which made it really tricky to have a positive result today, the extra pitstop also hurt us. I'm not throwing anything away, and in the last stint I showed good pace.

“I'll continue to do what I can to maximise from here until the end of the season. Credit to Max also, it was an incredible drive from him and he scored some great points for the team in the constructors'."