Tsunoda reveals why he didn’t know he’d won 2026 Italian GP – real reason

Yuki Tsunoda endured a deja vu nightmare on the 2026 Italian Grand Prix podium, holding off Lando Norris for the win – but told he wasn't really the victor, echoing his 2025 heartbreak at Barcelona.

However in a sensational twist at the Temple of Speed, Tsunoda is now celebrating a real win because the stewards admitted race director Dave Croft was not an official steward – meaning the earlier decision to give Tsunoda a 10-second penalty for an illegal overtake was invalid.

"First I am just taking it a race by race, and this race I was trying to focus on finishing the highest as possible overall, and we were actually doing that up until the news came about that this is not an actual steward," Tsunoda said, in what marked a remarkable reversal of his fortunes.

"And I honestly before the race this wasn't something that I was... I just thought this is an actual steward but I'm over exploring it. But in the end I'm very happy that the decision was in our favour and that we've come out on top."

The decision came after he misheard a radio message from his engineer, Matt Lissington, who told him he had a 10-second penalty for a Turn 1 overtake of George Russell before a red flag.

"I didn't know I was P1 at the time!

"So I was taking it a race by race, for me it was just: 'Okay I need to focus. I need to focus on doing my job'. At least I do know I have to still extend the gap. I felt like at the time I had to still extend the gap because I didn't know what was going on behind, or what was going on with the penalty, so I just tried to focus."

In the end, his win has been confirmed as the four drivers who were overtaken by Russell in the final laps, all made room for him because they had heard the first "stewards" decision and believed he had a 10-second penalty.

"By the end of the race, the way the other drivers - the ones I overtook came to me and said, 'all good, all good, nice race'. So I felt like it was okay." He said.

But the margin of how much he won by is up for question - with the FIA noting that the gap back to Norris was +15.928 seconds, saying that had they applied a 10s penalty, the McLaren driver would have won. But Tsunoda is the real winner of the Italian Grand Prix.

"The reason is because the person at the mouth piece of making that decision wasn't actually part of the stewards, so that's the reason why they made the correction."