Tsunoda likened to ‘drunken sailor’ in scathing assessment of Abu Dhabi race

The 66-year-old F1 pundit, reflecting on the final race of the 2025 season, said he doesn’t mind strategic team play but described Tsunoda’s defensive move as verging on menacing.

“I really don’t mind a bit of strategic team play—everybody has two cars to use at their competitive best—but the ‘you know what to do’ radio calls were bordering on menacing, along with him being told the gap from Norris to Leclerc was 1.4 seconds,” Brundle wrote in his Sky Sports F1 column.

The former F1 driver, highlighting how the Japanese driver could have successfully held up the British driver, continued:

“Yuki should have backed Lando up from the tight turns 12 through to Turn Five on the next lap; that would have been relatively easy and very effective. Instead, he chose to weave down the back straight like a drunken sailor while breaching the regulations, eventually forcing Norris to pass on a filthy part of the track, which effectively became off-track,” he added.

At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Tsunoda found himself on the receiving end of a five-second penalty after an incident involving Norris. The FIA stewards adjudged the 25-year-old to have moved multiple times under braking in his attempt to defend Norris, who would eventually claim the drivers’ title.

Earlier, Tsunoda described the penalty he received following the incident with Norris as quite harsh. The Red Bull Racing driver explained he had no malicious intent in his move to slow down the McLaren driver.

Tsunoda also admitted that his tactics to slow down Norris in the final sector of the Yas Marina Circuit had failed due to the gap between the two drivers.

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