George Russell gets warning, reprimand for driving…

George Russell has been given a warning and a reprimand following a pair of incidents in Free Practice 2 for Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix.

The reprimand is the more serious sanction as five of them automatically translate into a 10-place grid penalty (provided at least four are given for a driving infringement).

The incident in question happened early in the session when Russell clipped Arvid Lindblad’s car when the Racing Bulls was in the pitlane’s fast lane and the Mercedes was emerging from its garage.

“This guy’s just hit my front wing,” the Briton complained, but the stewards weren’t sympathetic to his view, as the rules make it clear that Lindblad had priority.

The stewards’ decision in full:

“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 41 (Arvid Lindblad) and the driver of Car 63 (George Russell), the team representatives and reviewed video, team radio and in-car video evidence and determined that Car 41 was in the queue of cars in the fast lane waiting to get out of the pit lane.

“Car 63 left the garage and was waiting to join the fast lane. Car 63 inched forward, as if to join the fast lane and then stopped slightly ahead of Car 41, with a small portion of Car 63 jutting into the fast lane.

“This resulted in Car 41 running over that portion of the front wing end plate of Car 63. There was no damage reported to us in relation to Car 41 as a result of the collision. Appendix L Chapter IV of the FIA International Sporting Code read with the Race Director Competition Notes Item 15 gives priority to the cars in the fast lane over those in the working lane. In other words, Car 41 had priority over Car 63.

“Car 63 would only have been free to blend into the fast lane ‘if there [was] a suitable gap in a queue of cars in the fast lane’ and if it could be done safely and without unnecessarily impeding cars already in the fast lane.

“It is clear, in this case, that there was no such gap and the collision resulted from Car 63 inching forward and thereby blocking a small portion of the fast lane. Both drivers agreed that the driver of Car 41 would not have been able to see the portion that was blocking the fast lane.

“In this case, the collision could have been avoided by Car 63 taking appropriate action and we therefore imposed a penalty of a reprimand to the driver of Car 63.”

George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes (Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Additionally, as previously mentioned, Russell received a formal warning – which is inconsequential – for performing a practice start outside the designated area.

Russell’s case was treated with leniency in light of mitigating circumstances, namely the poor late-afternoon visibility when facing the setting sun, though the stewards pointed out the Mercedes was “so far forward from the designated location that it was ahead of the protection of the pitwall”.

The stewards’ decision in full:

“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 63 (George Russell) and the team representative and reviewed video evidence.

“The driver admitted that he performed a practice start outside the designated practice start area defined in Item 14.1 of the Race Director’s Competition Notes. However, he explained that, due to sun haze, he was unable to clearly see the grid boxes and believed that the correct location was where the rubber marks were visible on the asphalt.

“Having viewed the Driver’s onboard and CCTV footage, we accept that the sighting of the grid box was difficult given the light conditions but the Driver was so far forward from the designated location that it was ahead of the protection of the pit wall and this incident occurred after the Race Director had warned all Teams of the need to comply with his instructions in this regard.

“The Stewards determined that the driver failed to follow the Race Director’s instructions and impose a penalty consistent with the penalty for similar breaches in the past.

“The Stewards remind all Competitors that compliance with the Race Director’s instructions regarding the correct position from which to perform practice starts is imperative for the safe conduct of the Event.”