The Japanese was called to testify before the stewards after the second practice session of the Monaco Grand Prix for an incident with Magnussen at the exit of the tunnel.
Heading into the Nouvelle chicane, Kevin Magnussen went straight ahead and passed close to Tsunoda as the AlphaTauri man negotiated the left hander.
The stewards met with both drivers after finishing FP2 and discovered that Yuki Tsunoda had received “ample and multiple warnings” that the Danish driver was closing in on him.
However, they found that Tsunoda “still chose to stay on the race line approaching Turn 10, forcing Magnussen to take action to avoid him and having to go through the chicane”.
The stewards added: “Although it is unusual to impose penalties for hindering other drivers during free practice, this incident was serious enough to justify the penalty imposed.”
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
This is Tsunoda’s fourth driving reprimand this season, leaving him just one away from receiving a 10-place grid penalty.
According to the sporting regulations: “Any driver who receives five reprimands (reprimands) in the same championship, upon winning the fifth, will be sanctioned with 10 places on the grid for the race of that event.”
“If the fifth reprimand is imposed after an incident during a race, the 10-place grid penalty will apply in the next event the driver enters.”
At least four of the five cautions received must be for driving violations. Tsunoda previously received reprimands for driving unnecessarily slow in Australian GP qualifying, hampering Sebastian Vettel in Australian free practice, and hampering Charles Leclerc in Bahrain free practice.
Tsunoda was unsure what happened to Magnussen, explaining that he had tried to pass the Dane de Haas at the same corner in FP1, but had fallen behind.
“This time I tried to push through the chicane and let him pass at Turn 11,” Tsunoda explained.
“In the end, he went straight on again. From my point of view, that’s the only place to go. It’s hard to let him overtake me there.”
