Post-race investigations are commonplace on a Sunday night in Formula 1 but the hours after the United States Grand Prix produced one of the more unusual stewards’ inquiries involving race winners Red Bull.

Red Bull were fined 50,000 euros for a pre-race rules breach on safety grounds which saw a team member re-enter the “gate well” in the “proximity of the second grid position”, which belonged to McLaren’s Lando Norris, once the cars had pulled away for the formation lap in Austin.

Half of the fine is suspended pending any similar breach over the rest of this season.

Stewards said that marshals reported the individual “did not appear to react to their efforts to prevent him from entering the gate well area”. Red Bull said that their team member was not aware of the efforts of the marshals to stop them, but stewards ultimately found them in breach and levied the significant fine as it represented an “unsafe act” when the gates were being closed before the race start.

But it is what is understood to be the reason for the Red Bull team member falling foul of the rules breach around grid re-entry which has prompted intrigue and debate.

Sky Sports News understands that the Red Bull staff member was trying to remove tape stuck on the grid wall by McLaren, designed to allow Norris to achieve an optimal position in his grid slot amid limited visibility from the cockpit.

The placing of tape by a team on the pit wall is not covered by F1’s regulations, so is fine to do. That also means that any removal of it by another team is not in itself a rules breach either.

With the incident having as quickly as it has inevitably been christened ‘tapegate’ in the media amid the ramping up of the Red Bull vs McLaren drivers’ title race, it was a talking point on the latest episode of The F1 Show as host Simon Lazenby was joined by former driver Karun Chandhok and commentator David Croft.

Listen to the full post-Austin instalment in full below with all the big need-to-know topics from across the grid in Austin covered:

What’s the need for tape on grid anyway?

The first question to answer on this topic is why teams such as McLaren with Norris would use tape as a marker on the nearest wall in the first place.

“Martin [Brundle] did that feature on our coverage at the weekend, showing how difficult it is to see your grid box,” said Chandhok in reference to Sky Sports F1’s explainer on the procedure of the formation lap, filmed in a McLaren at the Circuit of The Americas.

“He illustrated by parking outside the grid box himself.

“It’s actually something that’s been quite common for many years.

“I mean, I remember my race engineer, when I first came to the UK in 2002, my race engineer used to do that, put tape on the wall. Ironically he now works for the FIA.

“People have done it for many years; this is not a new trick.”

What would be the point of removing it?

While neither Red Bull nor McLaren have publicly commented on what happened with the tape, the intrigue over the incident comes amid what has unexpectedly developed into a close fight for the Drivers’ Championship between the teams.

Max Verstappen has raced back into contention against Norris and championship leader Oscar Piastri after three wins in four races, with the reigning world champion now just 40 points off the pace with five rounds to go.

“It’s a bit of gamesmanship,” said Chandhok.

“When Lando comes [back onto the grid], pulls around and he’s looking for that tape. There’s a lot going on, on the formation lap. There’s a lot going through the driver’s mind. Lando was saying himself, his heart rate’s up, it’s an intense lap.

“And you come there, you’re looking for your marker, it’s not there. Does it slightly put him off? That’s what they’re trying to do. It’s a bit of gamesmanship, but it’s a bit naughty.”

Croft said: “It’s like in football, where you give away a foul and then you go and kick the ball away. It’s like, just don’t.”

Formula 1’s thrilling title race heads continues at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the Mexico City Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime