Lando Norris’s race engineer left him in no doubt what he thought of Yuki Tsunoda’s move on him during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The pair encountered each other on the 23rd lap of the race, after Norris made his first pit stop. Tsunoda was yet to pit at that point and Red Bull alerted him to the fact his team mate’s world championship rival was gaining on him.

Tsunoda made a vigorous attempt to defend his position, changing his line several times between turns five and six, forcing Norris off between the two corners.

Once Norris had pulled clear of Tsunoda his race engineer Will Joseph told him they would speak to race control about the incident. “We’re on it with Tsunoda,” said Joseph. “That was classic Red Bull shithousing.”

The stewards gave Tsunoda a five-second penalty for making multiple changes of line in front of Norris. Tsunoda was infuriated to learn of the decision, which was announced around 10 minutes after the incident. After taking the chequered flag he called the decision “stupid”.

Analysis: Did Tsunoda try to get Norris penalised – and was the stewards’ call unprecedented?

Joseph told Norris that Tsunoda had been penalised, but did not mention the McLaren driver had also been investigated and cleared. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said after the race Tsunoda had gone too far with his move but did not accuse Red Bull of intentionally trying to provoke Norris into incurring a penalty.

“We pulled enough of a gap that we couldn’t give the position back,” he told the official Formula 1 channel. “Had it been a penalty it would probably have been a five-second penalty, which would not have been nice.

“It was over the line – no pun intended, I know Lando was. I get defending, but at some point… but he was driving the car, not his team.

“[There was] a lot on the line, [he] just went a little bit too far, but fortunately it all worked out and the right decision was made.”

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