George Russell and Kimi Antonelli receive grid penalties for unusual pit lane offence

Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli have been handed one-place grid penalties for the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Following Esteban Ocon’s crash in Q2, the two Mercedes drivers were the first to exit their garages and stop at the end of the pit lane.

This was done before a restart time was confirmed by race control.

Shortly after, the FIA confirmed that Russell and Antonelli were under investigation for entering the pit lane before the restart time was confirmed.

Following a meeting with the stewards, the FIA deemed that Mercedes could have gained “a sporting advantage in that it could enable a team to perform its run plan whereas other teams may not be able to.”

As a result, the stewards deemed that a sporting penalty was appropriate for the offence.

Russell will drop from second to third on the grid for Sunday’s race, starting behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Antonelli’s penalty promotes Pierre Gasly to fourth for Alpine.

In an interview with Viaplay before the stewards' verdict was announced, Russell said it would be "ridiculous" to be penalised for it.

“There was a message on the screen that said, 'Expected restart time', which is a very unusual message,” Russell said.

“Normally it is, 'The restart time is...' whatever. As soon as we saw this message, we went, because normally it's a race [to get to the end of the pit lane].

“And as soon as we went we realised it was an expected restart, not the restart. So I mean, you know, it's Q2, run one.

“It would be pretty ridiculous to be penalised for this. But then again, there are stranger things that happen in this sport.

“If you get a 20,000 euro fine because you're on the toilet, who knows.”

FIA explanation in full

The FIA’s statement read: “The Stewards heard from the team representative, the Race Director and FIA Single Seater Sporting Director and reviewed video, timing, team radio and in-car video evidence. The drivers were excused from attending.

“The team representative, Mr Shovlin, in evidence stated that he gave the instruction for the cars to be released, in error, having misinterpreted the message posted on page 3 of the Timing Screen, “estimated re-start time” to be a message advising the actual re-start time. He argued that there was no sporting advantage gained in this case as there was sufficient time remaining (11 minutes) for other teams to perform their run plans.

“It was also noted that the team’s Sporting Director, Mr Meadows, was not present at the event and that normally he would be involved in the release process.

“The FIA Single Seater Sporting Director stated that such a move could be a sporting advantage in that it could enable a team to perform its run plan whereas other teams may not be able to.

“The Stewards agree with this view particularly where there are only a few minutes remaining in the session.

“The FIA Sporting Director argued that there needed to be a sporting penalty rather than a team fine, otherwise in future teams would release their cars as soon as the estimated re-start time was published. The Stewards agree with this view.

“Mr Shovlin argued that it was possible to give a non sporting penalty if the Stewards declared that it was not to be taken as a precedent but also stated that if a sporting penalty was to be given, it should be mitigated.

“The Stewards agreed with the view that this breach required a sporting penalty however accept that the breach was unintentional and a genuine mistake by the team for which Mr Shovlin apologised. We decide to impose a one position grid penalty. A similar breach in different circumstances, could entail a more severe sporting penalty, in future.”