Toto Wolff submits official Mercedes protest to FIA over George Russell penalty

F1 team principal Toto Wolff has confirmed that Mercedes have submitted a right of review to the FIA over the penalties handed out to George Russell at last weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.

The sixth round of the F1 2026 championship was unusually chaotic in the principality last Sunday, with a crumbling track and two heavy crashes for Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll causing the race to be red-flagged.

On top of this, a grand total of five drivers were slapped with penalties for speeding in the pitlane including Pierre Gasly and Russell, but after the Brit failed to serve his time correctly in the pits, he was punished even further.

After major confusion in the pits for the Silver Arrows star, the FIA stewards handed Russell a 20-second drive-through penalty which not only ruined his race but also dropped him down to P3 in the drivers' standings thanks to failing to pick up a single point.

Speaking after the race in which he eventually finished P12, Russell said: "I was willing to serve the five-second penalty on the following lap. I had a 20-second gap behind me to Gasly. I probably gained a tenth of a second through the pit lane with that software glitch, and ended up losing 12 positions because of it."

Fans would've been forgiven for thinking the penalty drama was done and dusted as the championship headed to Barcelona this week, but the reality turned out to be far from it.

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Monaco race result change prompts Mercedes FIA action

As the F1 circus rolled into the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya paddock on Friday, it was confirmed that Alpine had won their right of review over Gasly's pitlane speeding penalty, which when applied to his P3 finishing position, stripped him of his podium.

The Frenchman was understandably devastated and after the FIA agreed to review their decision, word spread that they had chosen to rescind the penalty and reinstate Gasly's P3 finish in Monaco.

The championship standings were amended, as was the race result, but the other teams and drivers who also suffered because of the fault with the pitlane speed limiter were left questioning how the FIA could rescind just one punishment when five other drivers were also handed them.

McLaren and Red Bull subsequently lodged an intention to appeal against the FIA's decision to overturn Gasly's penalty and now Wolff has revealed that Mercedes have contacted the FIA to request a right of review for Russell's punishments.

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Wolff being 'realistic' about Russell FIA outcome

Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of Sunday's Barcelona Grand Prix, Martin Brundle addressed the penalty fiasco, turning to Wolff to say: “Can we just talk about Monaco because that might even cost George a championship, who knows? Those points he lost with the fake speeding, the team then had a big issue with the penalty. Gasly’s got his podium back, are you planning any action now?”

Wolff already revealed to media in Barcelona that he had been on the phone with Mercedes' lawyers to assess the team's options after Gasly's podium was reinstated.

The Silver Arrows F1 boss then provided an update on his team's plan of action, replying: “Yeah, we wrote to the FIA for a right of review as well. To be honest I’m not sure if this is a realistic outcome because you open up a can of worms.

“Normally, if you had a stop and go and you didn’t do it, it’s 20 seconds. Then that 20 seconds would put George back to P4. But then what are all the other consequences, so I don’t think this is going to hold with the judges. We have to do it for George’s benefit.”

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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 that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, 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 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.

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