Mercedes at risk of serving FIA penalty for rival F1 team at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Mercedes at risk of serving FIA penalty for rival F1 team at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

A Mercedes driver could serve a penalty in Baku

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Friday 19 September 2025 12:55

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Mercedes are at risk of serving an FIA penalty for a rival F1 team at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix if they are forced to use their reserve driver in Baku.

On Thursday at the Azerbaijan GP, Mercedes reported that their driver George Russell was unwell and was forced to sit out media day.

An official statement from Mercedes read: "Unfortunately, George won’t be at the track today because he’s feeling unwell and resting up ahead of tomorrow’s track action."

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Luckily for Russell and Mercedes, the Brit felt able to compete in FP1 on Friday, having recovered the previous day.

During FP1 however, Russell clearly sounded under the weather on team radio with a gravelly throat riding the airwaves over to his race engineer.

What happens if Russell cannot compete in Baku?

While Russell has announced no indication to step aside from any sessions across the Azerbaijan GP weekend, if he doesn’t fully recover for Saturday or Sunday, then Mercedes’ third driver Valtteri Bottas will likely step in for the Brit.

If Bottas does race in Baku, the Finn will serve a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s grand prix, after he picked up the punishment with Sauber at the 2024 Abu Dhabi GP following his collision with Kevin Magnussen.

Initially, it was thought that under the revised regulations, Bottas would not have to serve the penalty, but an FIA spokesperson confirmed: "Currently the penalty will stand, as there is no mechanism to retroactively amend the penalty that was applied under the regulations in force at the time."

"The change of regulation [for 2026] is intended to avoid similar anomalous situations in future."

Bottas will re-join the F1 grid in 2026 with Cadillac, and will serve the penalty at the Australian GP should he not replace an unwell Russell in Baku.

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