The Mercedes team has been fined €10,000 after Andrea Kimi Antonelli collided with Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull in the pit lane in FP3 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Antonelli and Tsunoda made contact in the pit lane in the closing minutes of the third and final practice session at the Yas Marina circuit.
Mercedes fined by FIA after pit-lane collision between Antonelli and Yuki Tsunoda
Tsunoda’s Red Bull was making its way down the fast lane when Antonelli was released by Mercedes.
Antonelli ended up tagging the right-rear corner of the Red Bull, causing damage to Tsunoda’s floor and bargeboard area.
Antonelli also suffered damage to the left-hand endplate of his front wing.
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The FIA launched an investigation with Antonelli and Tsunoda, along with team representatives from Mercedes and Red Bull, summoned to the stewards ahead of qualifying in Abu Dhabi.
The FIA has confirmed that Mercedes has been hit with a €10,000 fine having acknowledged that it was in a “bit of a rush” to get Antonelli back on track after a red flag for Lewis Hamilton’s crashed Ferrari interrupted the session.
Mercedes fine equals the €10,000 punishment handed to Ferrari following a pit-lane collision between Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris at the Singapore Grand Prix in early October.
The stewards’ verdict read: “The Stewards heard from the team representatives from Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team and Oracle Red Bull Racing and reviewed video, team radio and in-car video evidence.
“The competitor of Car 12 conceded that the team was in a “bit of a rush” due to the prior red flag and also noted that there was no fault that could be attributed to the driver, as he was following the instructions of the team.
“The penalty applied is the same as that applied to a similar breach in this year’s Singapore Grand Prix.”
Speaking before the verdict was made official, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff apologised to Tsunoda for the team’s error.
He told Sky F1: “First of all, I’m sorry for Yuki, because I think we damaged all of the good bits of his car.
“It was our mistake. We need to identify what happened.
“The session was grim at the beginning, but then I think George [Russell] had a proper lap and that was good enough for P1.
“And with Kimi after the shunt in the pit lane, it was all messy, obviously. It’s going to be OK.”
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Tsunoda was heard reporting the collision to Red Bull over team radio in the immediate aftermath of his collision with Antonelli, commenting: “I had a massive crash. ****.”
Red Bull: replied “Have you got damage?”
Tsunoda added: “I think so. But he has the damage on the side of the sidepod.”
Team radio footage from Antonelli’s car revealed that he was told to go “straight out” by Mercedes after receiving the signal from a mechanic.
Antonelli was heard saying after the contact: “Ah, man. Yuki. You told me yes and it was… Tsunoda was coming.”
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