Mercedes has managed to overturn a penalty given to Kimi Antonelli that promotes him to fourth place in the Australian Grand Prix, after winning a right of review.
Antonelli was given a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release in the closing stages of the race, a punishment that dropped him from fourth to fifth – behind Alex Albon – at the checkered flag. Mercedes moved quickly to try and get the penalty reviewed, with the petition proving it had a significant and relevant new element that was unavailable to it at the time of the decision.
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The element was the footage from the roll hoop camera on Antonelli’s car, that was not available at the time of the incident and could only be downloaded by F1’s technical team post-race.
The incident also included Nico Hulkenberg, with Antonelli deemed to have been released into the Stake driver’s path. However, the stewards deem that the footage showed the release was not unsafe.
“Having examined the new video, plus additional video previously not available to the stewards and taken from the helicopter, the stewards decide to reverse the previous decision,” the stewards’ document read. “As a result the penalty on Car 12 [Antonelli] in document number 43 is removed and no further action is required.
“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 [Hulkenberg]. The roll hoop camera shows that he had sufficient room to safely pass the McLaren pits without risk to the McLaren mechanics.”
Antonelli started 16th in Sunday’s race and overtook Albon late in the race for fourth, but had not managed to pull five seconds clear before the finish.
The penalty reversal also moves Mercedes level on points with McLaren in the constructors’ championship, with McLaren ranked ahead on 27 points courtesy of 25 of those coming from Lando Norris’ victory.
