(Motorsport-Total.com) – Mercedes will not appeal against the five-second penalty for Kimi Antonelli after the British Grand Prix. After an internal analysis of the race, the team concluded that the decision of the race stewards was justified given the multiple violations of the track limits.
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Antonelli was temporarily in second place at Silverstone and had a clear tire advantage over the leader Charles Leclerc. However, during the race, the Italian complained about significant problems with the handling of his Mercedes W17.
Mercedes searches for the cause during the race
The team called Antonelli into the pits twice to find the cause and take possible countermeasures. It eventually turned out that a defect in an air guide device on the left front wheel caused the difficulties.
Since the problem could not be fixed during the race, Antonelli continued driving. However, he dropped back to ninth place and crossed the finish line in exactly that position after a late safety car phase.
Due to multiple violations of the track limits, the race stewards subsequently imposed a five-second penalty on the 19-year-old. This relegated Antonelli to 16th place in the standings.
Wolff initially hoped for leniency from the FIA
Immediately after the race, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff had indicated that the team would check whether the penalty could be lifted due to the vehicle problems: “We are definitely checking if we can still avoid this penalty because of the track limits,” said Wolff. “At the end of the year, these points could be decisive for the championship if we manage to get the penalty lifted.”
When asked by Motorsport.com whether he wished for more leniency from the FIA due to the defect, Wolff explained: “Yes, I think it is always difficult for the FIA to assess whether a car is so badly damaged that it should actually come into the pits.”
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“In this case, the car was basically fine. There was only this one defect that made steering extremely difficult. I hope the FIA takes this situation into account, but I don’t know how the decision will turn out.”
Mercedes accepts the penalty after internal analysis
As Motorsport.com now reports, Mercedes will not pursue the case further. After evaluating the race, the team accepted the penalty because Antonelli had left the track multiple times without sufficient reason.
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The race stewards justified their decision as follows: “It was clear that car 12 left the track at turn 6 on lap 44 without a valid reason. This was the driver’s fourth track limits violation in this race.”
“The race stewards acknowledged that car 12 had a technical problem. However, this did not constitute a sufficient reason to leave the track. According to the penalty guidelines, a five-second time penalty is prescribed for the fourth track limits violation during a race. Therefore, the standard penalty of five seconds was imposed.”
Mercedes has thus closed the matter. Antonelli’s race result remains unchanged, and the Italian is officially classified as 16th in the British Grand Prix. Antonelli still leads the drivers’ standings after this rather sobering result with a 25-point lead over his teammate George Russell.
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