Martin Brundle reacts as FIA hands George Russell suspended fine

George Russell received a €5,000 suspended fine following an FIA investigation into his DNF reaction at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Russell threw his headrest in “despair” as Brundle put it, after his battle for the win with teammate Kimi Antonelli was abruptly ended by a Mercedes battery failure. Brundle called it “money well spent” by Russell, that hypothetical as the fine is suspended for 12 months. Russell has since issued an apology, as the FIA stewards said he had offered to do.

Martin Brundle defends George Russell after FIA fine

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Russell and Antonelli put on a thrilling ding-dong battle during the first-half of the Canadian Grand Prix, an intense tussle between the Mercedes teammates and title rivals which saw the lead swap back and forth regularly.

But, this epic duel was suddenly over as Russell took to the grass and parked his Mercedes at the side of the track.

“It looks like a module failure, so a battery failure, because the car was literally going back,” Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff told Sky F1, as he diagnosed the cause of Russell’s DNF.

“There was no electricity in the car anymore.”

An understandably frustrated Russell chucked his headrest out of the car, glanced back at his broken Mercedes as he left the scene, and slammed his gloves off-track in a further demonstration of his disappointment and disbelief.

The launching of his headrest alerted the FIA stewards as it landed on the track. The decision was to issue Russell with a €5,000 fine, which is suspended for 12 months barring any comparable transgression.

The FIA stewards made sure to convey Russell’s regretful and apologetic nature over his act.

Brundle, in his post-Canadian GP Sky Sports column, backed Russell over his headrest moment, deeming it an effective way to process those extreme emotions of the moment.

“There’s nothing to choose between Russell and Antonelli at the moment,” Brundle wrote.

“Experience and wisdom seems to match unbridled speed and enthusiasm perfectly, and that’s why they keep meeting in the middle of a corner.

“They constantly seemed to be side by side especially when either driver ran a touch deep on the brakes into the Turn 10 hairpin. That is until Russell’s Merc expired for good with a rare technical failure somewhere in the power unit. And he was out.

“In his despair, he threw his headrest down the road and out front of the car, for which he would be fined €5,000 suspended for 12 months.

“Money well spent as far as I’m concerned as a way to process the extreme adrenalin flow and disappointment. Been there, done that.

“This released Antonelli on his way to a relatively untroubled fourth straight victory.”

More on George Russell from PlanetF1.com

George Russell set Mercedes precedent as Kimi Antonelli reality bites

George Russell says title is Kimi Antonelli’s ‘to lose’ after Canada DNF

The stewards noted that Russell had offered to make a public apology. He proved a man of his word.

Russell wrote on social media: “Apologies to the marshals & FIA for making their job harder than it needed to be. Lots of emotions in the moment.”

Russell goes into the Monaco Grand Prix 43 points behind Mercedes teammate and championship leader Antonelli.

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