Mercedes was fined €5,000 following the Mexico Grand Prix after George Russell failed to attend his post-race Formula 1 media commitments.
The Mercedes driver finished sixth at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez despite starting Sunday’s race in second, having dropped four positions on lap one due to a poor battery.
Russell also suffered a 10s penalty for colliding into Isack Hadjar at Turn 6, causing sixth to be the best he could hope for on the day that team-mate Kimi Antonelli became world champion.
“The stewards heard from the team representative that the driver had left the circuit without attending the post race media commitments,” read the FIA report.
“Noting that the stewards can proceed to make a determination in the case of a non attendance at a hearing, a penalty of €5,000 is imposed on the competitor.”
Mercedes was in breach of Article B10.1.4e of the regulations with stewards stating that “the driver failed to attend the hearing and the team representative gave evidence via telephone”.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren, George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Colin McMaster / LAT Images via Getty Images
But it later emerged that Silver Arrows boss Toto Wolff had given Russell permission to leave the track early on what was a bruising day for the pre-season title favourite.
“I saw George after the race on the FIA scales and obviously he’s distraught about the situation,” said Wolff.
“It was a great show of sportsmanship to go and see Kimi. I have known George for such a long time.
“He’s going through a hard time, but he was also responsible in getting the young man into this team. So I saw him, and for a racing driver this is a catastrophic moment.
“Maybe the race was a little bit a picture of his season. This was a race for him to win. We had the pace in the car and we let him down on the first straight.
“The energy delivery is not what we thought it should be. I’m very much with him at the moment. I’ve been in situations where it’s very difficult to cope.
“Him not doing the media work or leaving the track is absolutely understandable. Him staying would have actually surprised me. That’s absolutely honoured.”
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