FIA confirm Mercedes punishment after Russell and Antonelli incident sparks double investigation
George Russell qualified second on the road to McLaren's Oscar Piastri in Bahrain
Mercedes drivers George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli have both been hit with a one-place grid penalty for the Bahrain Grand Prix after a pit-lane breach in qualifying.
The session was red-flagged after Esteban Ocon’s crash but the Mercedes duo emerged from their garage to line up at the end of the pit lane before the FIA had set an official restart time.
Mercedes hit with double punishment after FIA Bahrain GP qualifying investigation
Russell had qualified on the front row alongside Oscar Piastri but will now be directly behind the Australian in third with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc moving up to P2.
Antonelli, meanwhile, drops behind Alpine driver Pierre Gasly and into fifth.
Following the red flag for Ocon’s crash in Q2, Russell and Antonelli were sent to the end of the pit lane before the FIA communicated an official restart time.
The breach was immediately spotted by Nico Hulkenberg, the Sauber driver, who described Mercedes’ move as “dodgy.”
The stewards have now confirmed that both drivers were at fault following a meeting with trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin.
A statement read: “The Stewards heard from the team representative, the Race Director and FIA Single Seater Sporting Director and reviewed video, timing, team radio and in-car video evidence. The drivers were excused from attending.
“The team representative, Mr Shovlin, in evidence stated that he gave the instruction for the cars to be released, in error, having misinterpreted the message posted on page 3 of the Timing Screen, “estimated re-start time” to be a message advising the actual re-start time.
“He argued that there was no sporting advantage gained in this case as there was sufficient time remaining (11 minutes) for other teams to perform their run plans.
“It was also noted that the team’s Sporting Director, Mr [Ron] Meadows, was not present at the event and that normally he would be involved in the release process.
“The FIA Single Seater Sporting Director [Tim Malyon] stated that such a move could be a sporting advantage in that it could enable a team to perform its run plan whereas other teams may not be able to.
“The Stewards agree with this view particularly where there are only a few minutes remaining in the session.
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“The FIA Sporting Director argued that there needed to be a sporting penalty rather than a team fine, otherwise in future teams would release their cars as soon as the estimated re-start time was published. The Stewards agree with this view.
“Mr Shovlin argued that it was possible to give a non-sporting penalty if the Stewards declared that it was not to be taken as a precedent but also stated that if a sporting penalty was to be given, it should be mitigated.
“The Stewards agreed with the view that this breach required a sporting penalty however accept that the breach was unintentional and a genuine mistake by the team
“The Stewards for which Mr Shovlin apologised. We decide to impose a one position grid penalty.
“A similar breach in different circumstances, could entail a more severe sporting penalty, in future.
More on George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Speaking ahead of his drivers’ visit to the stewards, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff aired his hope that Russell and Antonelli would escape punishment, insisting the team were at fault for sending their drivers to the end of the pit lane too soon.
He said: “There’s no precedent [for this incident]. It’s a new rule in that sense and we’re going to see what the stewards say.”
Asked if he expects a fine or a reprimand instead of a sporting sanction, he replied: “I would hope that it’s not the drivers who are penalised.
“It was a team mistake. We jumped the gun here and it was in Q2, [not] in Q3.”
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