Mercedes F1 star demoted after late FIA penalty at Australian Grand Prix

George Russell celebrates in front of his Mercedes F1 car while Kimi Antonelli looks on forlornly — Photo: © IMAGO

Australian Grand Prix

Mercedes F1 star demoted after late FIA penalty at Australian Grand Prix

A Mercedes star was on the receiving end of a FIA punishment

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 16 March 2025 09:42 Updated: 10:55

A Mercedes Formula 1 driver has been demoted after a late FIA penalty at the Australian Grand Prix.

UPDATE: Mercedes have since launched a right of review for the incident and the penalty has now been overturned.

The FIA and stewards were kept busy during the 2025 season opener in Melbourne, with wet weather and driver errors causing multiple safety cars and subsequently several investigations.

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Lewis Hamilton was scrutinised by the stewards for a safety car infringement alongside three other drivers, but all four managed to escape a penalty as the FIA did not take any further action.

However, during the latter stages of the race the rain began to fall with drivers hurtling into the pits for wet weather tyres, which prompted a series of unsafe releases.

Kimi Antonelli had a disappointing qualifying

Antonelli awarded F1 penalty

The first driver to be penalised for an unsafe release was Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto, who received a five-second time penalty when he was released into the path of Liam Lawson forcing the Kiwi driver to take evasive action to avoid a collision.

Towards the end of the race Kimi Antonelli was also placed under investigation, with the Mercedes star having made his way up from the back of the grid to P4.

However, the team were responsible for an unsafe release into Nico Hulkenberg, who had to brake to avoid contact, and Antonelli was promptly dished out the same five-second time penalty as Bortoleto.

As a result Antonelli dropped to fifth but still celebrated the result, and alongside George Russell's podium finish, helped secure second place for Mercedes in the constructors' standings, just two points shy of McLaren.

UPDATE: Mercedes have since launched a right of review for the incident and the penalty has now been overturned.

Antonelli has subsequently been promoted up to P4 and Alex Albon drops down to P5.