Following his qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix, George Russell was under investigation by the F1 stewards on charges of violating the new regulation regarding obstruction in the pit lane.
George Russell violated a new Formula 1 regulation regarding obstructing competitors in the pit lane, earning him a two-place grid penalty for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
On the road, the British driver had finished sixth in Q3. Lewis Hamilton, his teammate who qualified one place ahead of him, was also scheduled to share the third row of the grid with him.
However, for Sunday’s race, the seven-time world champion will start alongside Lando Norris. Due to Russell’s interference with Pierre Gasly at the pit exit during the session, he was relegated to the eighth position on the grid.
The race director filed a report on him for not adhering to the pre-event directives. It was instructed to drivers that they were not allowed to block other competitors in the pit lane by going too slowly.
They were allowed to make space for themselves in the pit exit on the track. However, Russell disregarded the explicit instruction to stay to the left so that others could pass if they so desired.
So when the matter was referred to the stewards, it seemed inevitable that a punishment was heading the Mercedes driver’s way. And it duly came several hours after the end of qualifying when it was announced that Russell had been dropped to eighth on the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Explaining the decision, the stewards wrote: “Car 63 [Russell] was driving slowly in the pit exit and was not as far to the left as possible. The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 63, the team representative and reviewed in-car video evidence.
“In order to avoid situations like the ones that occurred in Mexico, the Race Director’s Event Notes for this event contained a specific clause (item 14) stipulating that it was permitted to go slow in the pit exit to create a gap before crossing the SC2 line, however, by doing so, a driver must stay as far to the left as possible to allow other drivers to pass on the right side.
“Russell was getting ready for an out lap as he left the pits. Russell did not stay entirely to the left, but he did slow down to open up a gap for a clear lap. As a result, the race director’s instructions were not followed, and the following car or cars were unable to pass.” The language and intent of item 14 of the Race Director’s Event Notes are obviously broken by this.
Max Verstappen defeated Charles Leclerc to claim pole position for the Grand Prix. That came after the first fast laps of qualifying, but before anyone could attempt to overtake the Red Bull racer, a sudden storm ended the session early.
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