Russell and Antonelli penalized one grid position in Bahrain

The Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli have received a one-place grid penalty for the Bahrain Grand Prix following an incident during qualifying. Both cars had left their pit before the official restart time after the red flag caused by Esteban Ocon’s accident.

A misinterpretation that costs a place

The incident occurred during Q2 of the qualifying session, after it was interrupted by a red flag following Esteban Ocon’s (Haas) accident at turn 3. The teams received a message indicating an estimated resumption time of 18:37 French time. However, both Mercedes cars had left their garages before the official resumption time confirmed by race control, triggering an investigation by the stewards.

Andrew Shovlin, track technical director at Mercedes, admitted to the stewards that he misinterpreted the message displayed on page 3 of the timing screen. He confused the estimated restart time with the actual time for the resumption of qualifications, thereby instructing the release of the cars prematurely.

George Russell had reacted at the end of qualifying, still unaware of the future penalty. Indeed, when questioned about the incident, he stated: “I have never heard of a provisional message before. Usually, the timing comes up, and the teams are always ready to know this restart time because it’s a rush out of the pits. As soon as we saw this time, we went for it. And then we noticed it said ‘provisional restart time.’ There were still 12 minutes left in Q2, after all. It would be a bit ridiculous to get a penalty for that,” before adding ironically: “But if you can get a €20,000 fine for going to the bathroom, then who knows what it will be this time,” referring to the fine imposed on Carlos Sainz a week earlier at the Japanese Grand Prix for missing 5 seconds of the national anthem after a bathroom break due to “digestive trouble.”

The debate on the nature of the sanction

The commissioners deliberated at length on the nature of the sanction to be imposed. The FIA’s sporting director advocated for a sporting penalty rather than a simple financial fine, arguing that otherwise, teams might release their cars as soon as the estimated restart time is published in the future.

Shovlin attempted to argue that no sporting advantage had been gained, as there was enough time (11 minutes) for other teams to also execute their race plans. He also highlighted the exceptional absence of the team’s sporting director, Ron Meadows, who would normally have been involved in the process of releasing the cars.

A measured decision, accompanied by a warning.

The commissioners ultimately decided to impose a sporting penalty, acknowledging that the violation was unintentional and constituted a good faith mistake by the team. They warned, however, that a similar violation under different circumstances could result in a more severe sporting penalty in the future, so teams are forewarned.

This decision alters the top 5 of the starting grid in Bahrain. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) retains the pole position, followed now by Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) in second position. George Russell (Mercedes) moves down to third, Pierre Gasly (Alpine) gains a place and is now fourth, and Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) will start from the fifth position on the grid.