George Russell has been given a suspended fine for throwing his car’s head restraint onto the track following his retirement from the Canadian Grand Prix.
The stewards ruled he violated article 12.2.1.h of the International Sporting Code which forbids “any unsafe act or failure to take reasonable measures, thus resulting in an unsafe situation.”
The Mercedes driver threw the cockpit surround from his car onto the track at the exit of turn nine after a power unit failure struck his car while he was leading. Russell was involved in a close fight with his team mate and championship rival Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the time.
Russell apologised to the stewards for the incident. “The driver explained that he was extremely frustrated having failed to finish the race and expressed his embarrassment as what subsequently followed,” noted the stewards.
“He apologised to the stewards for his action and acknowledged that it did not set a good example and
offered to apologise publicly. The stewards acknowledged this and accepted his apology.”
The stewards ruled Russell was to be “fined €5,000, suspended for a period of 12 months subject to no further breaches by the driver of a similar nature.”
Antonelli won the race and pulled 43 points ahead of him at the top of the championship standings.
The stewards also opted not to penalise Liam Lawson or Nico Hulkenberg after the pair crossed Safety Car Line One in the wrong order during a formation lap. Lawson incorrectly overtook the Audi when it moved away slowly as they left the grid and Hulkenberg said he was unable to safely regain his position before the line.
However as the pair started from the correct grid positions the stewards chose not to issue the mandatory stop-and-go penalties to either driver. “The stewards consider this penalty to be extremely harsh and not proportionate to a breach that was relatively minor in effect and impact. Accordingly the stop and go penalty is suspended using the authority
vested in the stewards under ISC Article 12.4.6.”
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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine