FIA announce LATE penalty for Mercedes F1 star at Barcelona Grand Prix

Russell and Antonelli in Mercedes race suits against the FIA and F1 blue and white screen backdrop — Photo: © IMAGO

Barcelona Grand Prix

FIA announce LATE penalty for Mercedes star at Barcelona Grand Prix

Mercedes have not enjoyed a positive weekend in Spain

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Sunday 14 June 2026 20:07 Updated: 20:25

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The FIA have announced a post-race penalty for a Mercedes F1 star after the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

George Russell lost out on a vital grand prix victory on Sunday as Lewis Hamilton sped to take the chequered flag almost 20 seconds ahead of him.

By claiming his 106th grand prix victory and his first with Ferrari, Hamilton picked up 25 points, cementing his position as Kimi Antonelli's main championship rival.

Article continues under video

Antonelli was forced to retire on lap 62 of the race after an engine problem with his Mercedes emerged, which left him stranded out on track and unable to pick up a single point.

And despite Antonelli having already gone through enough heartbreak the FIA have now confirmed a penalty for the championship leader.

FIA Antonelli verdict in full

F1's governing body announced on Sunday evening that despite retiring from the race, the stewards found that Antonelli had left the track four times during the grand prix without a justifiable reason.

As punishment, a five-second time penalty was imposed but thankfully for Mercedes, this will not be converted into a grid penalty for the next round in Austria due to Antonelli having completed more than 90 per cent of the race distance.

After reviewing video evidence the FIA released a statement which not only confirmed the punishment for Antonelli but also called for a review into the relevant guidelines due to ambiguity.

The full statement read: "The car left the track four times during the race without justifiable reason. The stewards acknowledge that the driver did not receive a black/white flag after his third infringement but rather after his fourth infringement as one earlier infringement was only detected later in the race. However, based on the current regulations and Driving Standards Guidelines, this does not exempt the driver from complying with the regulations.

"As there might be some ambiguity in the relevant guidelines, the stewards recommend the FIA revisit the current procedures and guidelines as soon as possible."