Overview
- FIA stewards fined Red Bull €50,000, with €25,000 suspended, for a team member re-entering the Gate 1 area during the formation lap in Austin.
- Reports state the team member tried to remove McLaren’s pit‑wall tape used by Lando Norris as a grid reference and ignored marshals’ instructions.
- There is no specific regulation covering the use or interference of pit‑wall tape, so the sanction addressed the unsafe re-entry rather than tampering.
- Former engineers and commentators labeled the act as gamesmanship and urged points deductions over monetary fines to create a real deterrent.
- Industry reports suggest similar tape removals have been attempted earlier this season, though this has not been formally confirmed.