FIA confirm why no punishment for title-winning Lando Norris at Abu Dhabi GP
7th December 2025The FIA has released their reasoning on why they opted not to punish McLaren’s championship-winning Lando Norris after overtaking Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda off track.
Feature image credit: Getty Images // Red Bull Content Pool
Following the conclusion of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, where Norris sealed the driver’s title for the first time ever, the FIA released their reasoning on why they decided not to punish the new world champion.
During the race, Norris was chasing after Tsunoda on his way through traffic as he worked his way to the title. At the same time, Red Bull ordered Tsunoda to hold up the McLaren driver.
The back straight, between turns five and six, the McLaren was on the back of the #22 Red Bull and Tsunoda weaved to stop Norris from getting by, but the McLaren ran off track as he slipped on by.
Tsunoda was later given a five-second time penalty for making more than one change of direction in his defence, whilst Norris was not investigated further.
The stewards deemed Norris would’ve overtaken Tsunoda on track had the Japanese driver not weaved on the back straight. They said:
“The driver of Car 4 overtook Car 22 off track; however, this occurred because the driver of Car 22 made multiple moves defending his position against Car 4.
“Had Car 22 not made those moves, Car 4 would have overtaken it without going off track but moved off track to avoid contact with Car 22.
“Further, the Driving Standards Guidelines provide that if a car is ‘forced off’ (which was effectively what occurred here), it is not considered to have exceeded track limits.
“Whilst technically the overtake took place off track, we determine in view of the above, to take no further action.”
Was Tsunoda’s 5s time penalty and Norris’ no further action justified?
The former was penalised for moving in more than one direction, and the latter was not for leaving the track and overtaking Tsunoda. #F1 / #AbuDhabiGP
— ApexMotorsports.co.uk (@ApexMSPRT) December 7, 2025
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Lando Norris seals the title as Max Versappen wins Abu Ghabi GP
- What happens when the champion wins in Abu Dhabi?
- How can Norris, Verstappen or Piastri win the title in Abu Dhabi?
- Max Verstappen snatches pole for title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
- George Russell takes fastest time in final Abu Dhabi GP practice
- Lando Norris fastest after opening day with quickest FP2 time in Abu Dhabi GP
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
