Red Bull penalized for 'tape-gate' altercation with McLaren.

      "Currently, there are no prohibitions."

      Red Bull's celebrations following Max Verstappen's commanding victory at the United States GP were momentarily interrupted when the FIA called the team regarding an unusual incident in the grid lane, which resulted in a 50,000 euros fine—half of which is suspended. According to the stewards' report released on Sunday, a member of the Red Bull team "re-entered the gate well area near the second grid position after the formation lap had begun," disregarding the marshals' instructions as the pit lane gate was being closed. Although the official report did not identify the mechanic or clarify the reason for his return to the grid, various sources, including Sky Italia and L’Equipe, reported that the team member was attempting to remove orange marker tape placed by McLaren to aid Lando Norris in positioning himself in the starting box. L’Equipe noted, "Nothing prohibits it—at least for now—in the regulations," even though it appears McLaren has strengthened its measures to protect this mark, suggesting that such an action had been attempted before. "The punishment was not for the action itself, but for re-entering the track after it was prohibited."

      The FIA deemed the action "an unsafe act," but restricted the penalty to a fine of 50,000 euros, with 25,000 euros suspended to deter future occurrences. There were no sporting penalties imposed. The Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung reported that Red Bull has "removed such markings from competitors multiple times in the past," prompting McLaren to switch to stronger adhesive tape—a detail that led to a surge of accusations of unsportsmanlike conduct on social media. In Austin, Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies described the situation as "a misunderstanding" and emphasized that the team did not intentionally ignore any instructions. "We reviewed the video with the FIA," Mekies stated. "It’s something we can improve upon in the future, but we believe we did not disregard any instructions. We did not receive any specific warnings at that moment. It’s a minor issue, but still something we will address." Auto Motor und Sport reported that the stewards’ hearing briefly hindered Red Bull’s post-race celebrations, although Mekies seemed at ease. "We discussed the incident with the FIA, and we must ensure we do better moving forward," he remarked. Neither McLaren nor Red Bull has released an official statement, but British reports suggest that McLaren filed a complaint with the FIA.