FIA announce DOUBLE Mercedes penalty verdict after Bahrain GP mishap

The FIA have announced a penalty verdict for both Mercedes Formula 1 drivers following a team mishap during qualifying for this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.

During Q2 of Saturday's session, a red flag was caused by a major crash for Esteban Ocon, but following the incident, Mercedes released both drivers out of the garage after the estimated time of resumption had been announced, not the confirmed time.

The FIA confirmed an official investigation into Toto Wolff's outfit was taking place for failing to follow race directors instructions and leaving the garage before resumption time had been announced, with the confirmed penalty decision now altering the starting grid for Sunday's race.

After being reviewed by the stewards, Russell and Antonelli have now both been handed a one-place grid drop for the Bahrain Grand Prix, with the Silver Arrows instead lining up P3 and P5 respectively after the penalty has been applied.

Mercedes FIA verdict in full after major Bahrain GP mistake

The stewards heard from the team representative, the Race Director and FIA single seater sporting director and reviewed video, timing, team radio and in-car video evidence, although the drivers were excused from attending.

An official statement from the FIA read: "The team representative, Mr Shovlin, in evidence stated that he gave the instruction for the cars to be released, in error, having misinterpreted the message posted on page three of the Timing Screen, “estimated re-start time” to be a message advising the actual re-start time. He argued that there was no sporting advantage gained in this case as there was sufficient time remaining (11 minutes) for other teams to perform their run plans.

"It was also noted that the team’s sporting director, Mr Meadows, was not present at the event and that normally he would be involved in the release process.

"The FIA Single Seater Sporting Director stated that such a move could be a sporting advantage in that it could enable a team to perform its run plan whereas other teams may not be able to.

"The stewards agree with this view particularly where there are only a few minutes remaining in the session.

"The FIA sporting director argued that there needed to be a sporting penalty rather than a team fine, otherwise in future teams would release their cars as soon as the estimated re-start time was published. The stewards agree with this view.

"Mr Shovlin argued that it was possible to give a non-sporting penalty if the stewards declared that it was not to be taken as a precedent but also stated that if a sporting penalty was to be given, it should be mitigated.

"The stewards agreed with the view that this breach required a sporting penalty however accept that the breach was unintentional and a genuine mistake by the team for which Mr Shovlin apologised."

As a result, the stewards have decided to impose a one-position grid penalty for both Russell and Antonlli, although if a similar breach occurred in different circumstances, it could entail a more severe sporting penalty, in future.

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