Nine-Time World Driver’s Championship Winning Team Fined Over Near-Miss Entering Pit Lane
The August break is over, and drivers are revving their engines at the practice on the Zandvoort circuit in the Netherlands. More than anything, the results from these practice laps have highlighted the rust that formed on the teams while they vacationed. The weekend thus far has been marked by gravel and red flags across all three Free Practices, with the most recent incident prompting FIA action against the offending team. Everyone loves excitement at the Grand Prix, but safe conditions for the drivers are a must.
The offending team in question is Mercedes AMG, who had already encountered some issues in FP One with Kimi Antonelli running into the gravel. Now, they have run into a more serious and dangerous situation as Mercedes lead driver George Russell had a near-miss with the Aston-Martin driver Fernando Alonso. The incident primarily stemmed from a failure on the Mercedes engineering team to communicate with their lead driver as Russell made an attempt to enter the pit lane while Alonso was passing the entrance on his way to complete the lap. According to the FIA report, Mercedes was aware of Alonso’s position on the track and his intention to finish the lap, but neglected to relay this information to Russell.
Unable to see Alonso in his mirrors, Russell made a wide turn to enter the pit late and nearly collided with Alonso. Top-down footage of the practice shows the two drivers making evasive maneuvers as Alonso is pushed close to the wall, narrowly avoiding a collision on both sides. Russell then continued along the track, abandoning his initial intention of entering the pit lane; instead, Alonso entered the pit lane as he had been forced too close to the sidelines. The FIA report concludes that Russell had no way of knowing Alonso’s position, and thus it was the engineering team at fault for not alerting him before the pit lane entry. Subsequently, the FIA has issued Mercedes AMG a fine of 7,500 euros for its recklessness. While they did not find Russell at fault, the report acknowledges that he should have allowed more room for other cars to pass on his left and issued him a warning.
