F1 stewards announce Kimi Antonelli decision after Mercedes appeal
The stewards announce whether Mercedes' appeal has been successful
Mercedes have won their appeal to overturn the stewards’ decision to award Kimi Antonelli a penalty at the 2025 F1 Australian Grand Prix.
Antonelli was handed a five-second penalty after he was unsafely released into the path of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg.
The incident was investigated by F1’s stewards in the closing laps of the race with a speedy resolution.
However, the incident wasn't shown on F1's main TV feed.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was irked by the handling of the incident, stating: “You can only shake your head. It came up. There’s an incident.
“Nobody saw it. It wasn’t played and 90 seconds later there was a penalty of five seconds. So…”
Soon after this interview, it transpired that Mercedes had launched a bid to overturn the penalty.
The FIA quickly announced that the appeal had been successful and Antonelli’s five-second time penalty was removed from the final results.
As a result, Antonelli has been classified fourth in his F1 debut, rather than fifth, behind Williams’ Alex Albon.
It's the best result by a rookie driver since Kevin Magnussen finished on the podium for McLaren in 2014.
Why has Antonelli’s penalty been removed?
The stewards noted a “significant and relevant” new element.
They explained that: “The petitioner provided video from the roll hoop camera which was previously unavailable. This video was relevant and significant in the opinion of the Stewards and was unavailable at the time of the original decision (having only been downloaded from the Formula One camera post-race).
Upon reviewing the new footage, plus additional video not available to the stewards, they decided to remove the penalty.
This is because: “It is clear that Car 12 did not cross into the fast lane until a significant distance down the pit lane and only after the driver checked his mirror to confirm clearance with Car 27.
“The roll hoop camera shows that he had sufficient room to safely pass the McLaren pits without risk to the McLaren mechanics.”
It means that Mercedes finished third and fourth in Australia, putting them level on points with McLaren (27) at the top of the constructors’ standings.
Mercedes enjoyed a solid weekend overall, with George Russell enjoying a lonely drive to finish on the podium.
With a sharp eye for F1’s controversies and storylines, Connor is the heartbeat of our unbiased reporting.
