Isack Hadjar, George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, Australian GP, 2026, generic — Photo: © IMAGO

Australian Grand Prix

FIA announce late Mercedes penalty verdict after front row lockout at Australian Grand Prix

The Silver Arrows performed well in qualifying but had a driver summoned to the stewards

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Saturday 7 March 2026 10:35 Updated: 10:47

The FIA have confirmed a late penalty verdict for Mercedes after the Silver Arrows were involved in multiple incidents at this weekend's Australian Grand Prix.

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli returned to Albert Park Circuit for the opening round of the F1 2026 championship, knowing that their team had been tipped to have mastered the new chassis and power unit regulations.

What's more, Russell had already been named the favourite to take home the drivers' title this season before any wheel-to-wheel racing had even taken place in Melbourne.

Article continues under video

And the Brit finally showed off the true blistering pace of his new Mercedes in Melbourne on Saturday, as he stormed to pole position in the first qualifying of the sport's new era.

But the good news didn't stop there for Toto Wolff's team as a well-timed crash from Max Verstappen gave the Mercedes mechanics the extra time they needed to get Antonelli's car repaired and sent back onto the track in tip-top condition (or so they thought).

F1 HEADLINES: Newey reveals the shocking truth as FIA announce last-minute U-turn

FIA announce Mercedes punishment decision after Antonelli incidents

Antonelli finished the first qualifying of the 2026 campaign just behind his team-mate in P2, meaning the Mercedes duo will lock out the front row for Sunday's 58-lap Australian GP.

But the celebrations were short-lived due to the fact that Antonelli and his Mercedes team representative had been summoned to the stewards after being involved in not one, but two incidents during Saturday's qualifying.

The first saw a duct cooling fan fly off of Antonelli's car onto the track before being run over by Lando Norris and created significant debris that delayed qualifying even further.

Following the alleged breach of Article B1.6.2 b) i) of the FIA Regulations, releasing an F1 car from the garage in an unsafe condition, the stewards heard from the Mercedes representative for Car 12 (Antonelli) and after reviewing team radio and in-car video evidence, have now announced their punishment decision over the incident.

A statement from the stewards read: "Car 12 (Antonelli) was released from its garage during the session with a duct cooling fan still attached on the right side of the car. The fan assembly disconnected from the duct of Car 12 as it negotiated Turn 1, split apart and one section of it bounced off the track onto the gravel at the exit.

"Another section of the fan assembly dislodged onto the track at Turn 2 and was later struck by the front wing and tyre of another car causing debris to be strewn over the track, damage to the front wing of the other car and the session had to be red flagged to remove the debris.

"The team explained that an incident in an earlier session in which Car 12 had sustained significant damage meant that the division of labour within the Team had to be changed to repair the damage within a short time frame.

"Usually, a separate team member would have responsibility for inserting and removing each fan but the need to address legacy issues from the earlier incident during the session meant that the team member responsible for the fan on that side of the car was occupied on another task and the removal of the fan before the car was released from the garage was missed.

"The team (and the driver) were unaware that the fan had not been removed until the incident was noted by Race Control.

"The Stewards determine that because Car 12 left its garage with a piece of equipment still attached, it was released in an unsafe condition and the Stewards impose a fine on the competitor accordingly."

So, whilst Antonelli has escaped a sporting penalty, his Mercedes squad have been slapped with a fine of €7,500 (£6,500).

Antonelli summoned for second incident

Antonelli was also summoned to the stewards in Melbourne over an alleged pitlane incident where the Mercedes team members on his side of the garage were investigated for potentially working on the car in the fast lane.

However, after the stewards reviewed video evidence of the incident, they decided to take no further action, with an FIA statement declaring: "During the qualifying session, which was suspended due to a red flag incident, and while the cars were lined up to leave the pit lane, Car 12 was waiting to blend into the fast lane.

"Car 12 had inched slightly into the fast lane with a very small portion of the front wing in the fast lane. A team member assisted in pushing the car back a little to allow for that part to not hinder the fast lane.

"While the car was touched by the team member (to push it back), this did not constitute a breach of Article B1.6.1e which prohibits work being done on the car, which clearly was not the case here. In fact, the team member was taking steps to not hinder the other drivers in the fast lane, which was entirely appropriate in the circumstances."

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here she realised her background in journalism and love of motorsport could be combined, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work more closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan which she hopes to build on.

View full biography

Mercedes FIA Australian Grand Prix 2026 regulations Kimi Antonelli Melbourne