What Red Bull staff privately said about Yuki Tsunoda almost taking out Lando Norris in Abu Dhabi

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Yuki Tsunoda could easily have changed the outcome of the 2025 Formula 1 championship with his incident with Lando Norris at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Red Bull kept the Japanese driver on track when the McLaren star pitted for hard tyres. Norris came out in traffic, with Tsunoda up ahead in third.

Max Verstappen was leading the race and needed his rival to drop points if he were to win the title. His teammate was used to help him achieve it, but Laurent Mekies stressed to McLaren that they would race cleanly – that promise was broken.

As Norris climbed through the field, he found himself behind Tsunoda and attempted a move on the main straight. The Red Bull driver weaved and almost pushed the championship leader into the barriers, but he made the overtake stick.

Red Bull staff privately admitted Yuki Tsunoda got ‘overexcited’ with his move on Lando Norris in Abu Dhabi

Both drivers were investigated by the stewards over the incident – Tsunoda for excessively weaving and Norris for overtaking him with all four wheels off the track.

In the end, it was the former who got a five-second penalty, while the latter escaped punishment and went on to win the 2025 championship. Red Bull staff later admitted that Tsunoda got ‘overexcited’ in his bid to hold up Norris for Verstappen.

Journalist Stuart Codling recalled on the Autosport F1 Podcast: “Yeah, it was slightly ham-fisted. And had the race gone on for a few more laps before Norris pitted, he would probably have been able to pit and come out ahead of Tsunoda.

“But obviously George Russell pitted quite early and that then raised the question of, would Charles Leclerc go? And if he did do that, would he then undercut Lando? So McLaren had to pull the pin on that, maybe bringing him in a little bit earlier than they’d pre-ordained.

“And that consigned him to coming out behind Tsunoda, catching him. Tsunoda knew what to do, he got a little bit overexcited and botched the manoeuvre.

“And speaking to Red Bull people after the race, it sort of came over that, Yuki said, yeah, in the words of Kimi Raikkonen: ‘Leave me alone, I know what I’m doing’. But actually, he got a little bit excited in the moment and went a little bit too hard and nearly took Lando Norris out.”

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What did everyone else make of Yuki Tsunoda’s move on Lando Norris?

It is clear that Red Bull were going to try any tactic possible to hold up Norris and give Verstappen the best chance of winning his fifth title. But many are in agreement that Tsunoda overstepped the mark.

McLaren were furious over the radio as Norris came close to hitting the barriers as he passed the Red Bull. It could have been costly for his championship charge, with Zak Brown later calling the move ‘unnecessary’.

Martin Brundle thought Red Bull’s radio calls to Tsunoda were ‘menacing’ after they told him that he knew what to do against Norris. Ultimately, he did not do enough to stop the McLaren, but it could have ended much worse.

Interestingly, F1 fans felt Norris should have been penalised for the incident as he overtook Tsunoda off the track. But the stewards found no wrongdoing, with the Brit having nowhere else to go after he was forced wide.