George Russell learns Japanese GP penalty fate after 'very dangerous' move

06 April 2024 , 09:07

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George Russell avoided punishment himself - but his Mercedes team was fined (Image: Sky Sports)

Mercedes were slapped with a fine after unsafely releasing George Russell into the path of another driver during Japanese Grand Prix qualifying.

But Russell avoided picking up a grid penalty himself as a result of the incident. That's despite him almost colliding with Oscar Piastri in the pit lane during the first part of Saturday's session at Suzuka.

Mercedes gave Russell the green light to join the pit lane, but was released directly in front of the moving McLaren. The Aussie had to think quickly and take avoiding action to make sure they didn't make contact.

Over the radio, he vented his frustration at having had to do so and described the move as "very dangerous". The stewards felt it was worth looking into and, after qualifying, both drivers were summoned to give their sides of the story.

After the hearing, it was decided that punishing Russell would have been unfair. But Mercedes were deemed to be at fault themselves and so the Silver Arrows were slapped with a £4,300 fine.

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Describing in a document how they had come to that decision, the stewards wrote: "The driver of Car 63 [Russell] stated that on receiving the release signal from his mechanic, he had intended to drive down the working lane, however he saw the mechanic from Car 44 [Lewis Hamilton] in his peripheral vision and in order to avoid him, he claimed he had to move into the fast lane.

"He was not able to see the approach of Car 81 [Piastri]. The driver of Car 81 stated that he had to take avoiding action by steering away from the approaching Car 63. Examination of the pit lane video shows that the mechanic of Car 63 who released the car did not look down to pit lane to see if it was clear.

"Even though the stated intention of the team was for Car 63 to move down the working lane then blend in prior to the pit exit, it is still the responsibility of the team to release the car in a safe manner and good practice would dictate that prior to the car being released, the pit lanes (both fast and working) should be checked for approaching vehicles."

Russell will start Sunday's race ninth on the grid as planned, having been out-qualified by team-mate Hamilton for the first time this season. Speaking after the session, he lamented the fine margins which left him much further down the grid than he would have liked.

The Briton said: "It's just so tight out there between ourselves, McLaren, Aston Martin and Ferrari. If you nail that lap, you will be at the front of that pack. If you don't, you will be at the back. We knew this circuit would be a slight challenge for us. We know our limitation would be the high-speed corners."

Daniel Moxon