Tsunoda hit with three-place F1 grid penalty for impeding Bottas in Q3

The stewards judged that Tsunoda failed to move out of the way for Bottas during the early stages of Q3 at the Red Bull Ring.

The Finn was on his first fast lap in Q3 and came across the AlphaTauri driver on the run into Turn 4.

The Japanese rookie qualified eighth but the penalty moves him back to 11th on the grid.

This promotes Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and George Russell up a place, with the Williams driver set to start from tenth.

The stewards ruled: “Car 22 had just completed a fast lap and had communication from the team that he was now on an in-lap.

“Car 77 approached Car 22 at the entry to Turn 4. Car 22 was on the racing line and while he attempted to move off the racing line to the outside, he did impede car 77 unnecessarily.

“It is the responsibility of every driver to be aware of faster cars when they are on a slow lap. The team should have assisted the driver in being aware of the approaching faster car but such lack of communication is not an excuse for the driver.”

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after qualifying, Tsunoda felt he didn’t hamper Bottas’ lap significantly. 

“There is still a gap between me and Valtteri and there’s a little bit of a crest before Turn 4. The point I saw him was already in the braking zone,” Tsunoda said. “It’s a mistake, but to be honest if I changed direction and went inside I think that would really be in the braking zone.

“So I also expected that Valtteri was going to overtake me on the inside so it could have been a big shunt. There was nowhere to go so that’s why I went straight. It looks like there’s still a gap. I know it’s really difficult. I don’t think I ruined his lap too much.”