Monza Weekend Review: Monaco Podium Reshuffle and Audi Controversy
Monza was supposed to be about speed, strategy and tifosi. Instead, part of the spotlight fell on a race from three months ago and a brand-new dispute that could yet rewrite the Italian Grand Prix points table.
Monaco’s podium reshuffled… again
During the Monza weekend, officials finally closed the book on the chaotic Monaco Grand Prix from early June. The race had been mired in confusion over pit-lane speed measurements and the penalties that followed.
Pierre Gasly, in the Alpine, had originally crossed the line in third. Then came the penalty. His podium vanished. An initial protest later restored his third place, only for the saga to drag on in the background for weeks.
At Monza, the final word arrived: Gasly lost the podium once more. Isack Hadjar, driving for Red Bull Racing, was officially promoted to third place. A result that had already changed once was rewritten again, months after the chequered flag in Monte Carlo.
The timing left a sour taste. One long-running argument had just been settled. Another began almost immediately.
Audi furious over Tsunoda restart call
This time, the storm centres not on a penalty given, but on one that never came.
After the Italian Grand Prix, Audi announced it had filed notice that it may protest the result. The German-Swiss outfit hit the deadline, making clear it believes the stewards mishandled a key incident involving Yuki Tsunoda.
Tsunoda, racing for Racing Bulls at Monza in place of Liam Lawson (himself standing in for Isack Hadjar at Red Bull Racing), finished tenth. That single point pushed both Audi cars out of the points: Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg ended up 11th and 12th.
For a team still fighting for every scrap of reward in a tight midfield, that stung.
At the heart of Audi’s anger lies the restart after Charles Leclerc’s red-flag crash.
The restart that changed everything
As the field formed up for the restart, Tsunoda made a crucial error. On his way to the grid, he initially lined up on the left side, even though his designated starting box was on the right. Realising the mistake late, he cut across and slotted into his correct bay, but his car sat slightly askew.
Race director Rui Marques did not let the start go. He aborted it and ordered an extra formation lap.
Under the regulations, if a driver is deemed responsible for triggering an additional formation lap, that driver must start from the pit lane at the next attempt. Tsunoda did not. He lined up again on the grid for the second restart and took the lights as normal.
No instruction came from race control to send him to the pits. No penalty followed.
An investigation into Tsunoda’s actions was opened, and this is where Audi’s frustration sharpened. The stewards chose not to impose a stop-and-go penalty, which, if applied during the race, would have been converted into a significant time penalty after the flag.
Their reasoning, summarised, rested on two pillars: team and driver were not aware they were being treated as the direct cause of the extra formation lap, and Tsunoda’s final position in the grid box was not officially classified as incorrect. The extra lap, they argued, had been ordered in good faith and for safety reasons.
So Tsunoda kept his tenth place. Audi left with nothing.
What Audi wants – and what could change
Audi wasted no time. Within the mandatory one-hour window after the race, the team submitted notice that it was considering a protest. That step buys it 96 hours from Sunday evening to lodge a full appeal or quietly drop the matter.
If the team follows through and the protest succeeds, the consequences are clear enough. Tsunoda would likely receive a retrospective time penalty equivalent to a stop-and-go – typically 30 seconds added to his race time.
That would drop the Racing Bulls driver out of the points. Bortoleto would be promoted to tenth and handed a valuable point, with Hülkenberg moving up behind him.
For Audi, it is not just about a single point. It is about consistency after a summer of rulings that seem to arrive weeks or months after the action, and about a rulebook that, in their view, must be applied the same way whether a driver is fighting for a win or clinging to tenth.
Monza closed one chapter with the final twist in Gasly and Hadjar’s Monaco story. Now the paddock waits to see if Audi’s challenge will reopen the results sheet yet again – and how many more races this season will be decided long after the engines fall silent.
