Mercedes has been fined by Formula 1’s Mexican Grand Prix stewards for George Russell not attending his media duties after the race in which team-mate Kimi Antonelli won the title.
Russell failed to attend the media pen to speak to broadcasters and the written media.
This is required of every driver without a valid reason not to attend, as per Article B10.1.4e of the FIA’s F1 sporting regulations, so he was summoned to the stewards on Sunday evening, with Mercedes then given a €5000 fine.
Mercedes explained it excused Russell because he was “distraught” after the race. Russell had an energy deployment problem at the start of the race that sent him backwards from the front row. He collided with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, picked up a 10-second time penalty for that and ended the race sixth, while Antonelli claimed a podium and the title Russell once hoped would be his.
Although Russell did not attend Mercedes’ celebrations, he did congratulate Antonelli and his family (pictured above) after the race.
“I saw George after the race on the FIA scales and obviously he’s distraught about the situation,” Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff explained.
“It was a great show of sportsmanship to go and see Kimi. I have known George for such a long time. He is going through a hard time, but he was also responsible in getting the young man into this team.
“For a racing driver, this is a catastrophic moment and maybe today the race was a little bit a picture of his season.
“This was a race for him to win. We had the pace in the car. And we let him down on the first straight. The energy delivery was not what we thought it should be.
“I’m very much with him at the moment. I’ve been in situations where it’s very, very difficult to cope.
“So him not doing the media work or leaving the track is absolutely understandable. Him staying would have actually surprised me.”
