Tsunoda Doubles Down On FIA Penalty Criticism: ‘They Love The Top Teams’

Posted on October 31, 2023 | by Charley Williams Oh, Yuki. Just after the summer break, Yuki Tsunoda expressed his feelings on the FIA penalty system by claiming that he was always the one on the receiving end of penalties, much more than the other drivers. We can’t lie, it does sometimes seem that way.  In Zandvoort, he was handed a five-second time penalty, as well as two penalty points on his license, for clashing with George Russell during the chaotic and rather soggy race. The pair tangled heading into Turn 1, but after the race, Yuki argued that it was just racing and “didn’t feel like it was aggressive”, exclaiming that they didn’t even touch. He added: “But I’m the one who always gets penalties.” ???? That was actually Yuki’s second penalty of that weekend, paired with a three-place grid drop for impeding Lewis Hamilton during qualifying. Fast forward to this Mexican GP. After the race was restarted following a flag to clear up the mess from Kevin Magnussen’s big shunt into the barriers, battles for position were happening everywhere. Yuki and Oscar Piastri were trading positions for P7 before contact between them left Tsuonda spinning out and dropping all the way down to P16. The stewards noted the incident, but after the race, it was ruled no further action would be necessary. Talking to the media, including The Race, about the incident, Yuki doubled down on his FIA penalty criticism, saying: “No action? Okay. As expected.” When reminded of what he said in Zandvoort, he responded: “They love the top teams, so… that’s it.” ???? Was ‘no further action’ suitable for the collision between Tsunoda and Piastri?