Mercedes was found to have committed an unsafe pit‑lane release in Q3 at the Australian Grand Prix after Andrea Kimi Antonelli was released with cooling fans still attached to his sidepods. Two cooling fans detached after the release — one flying into the Turn 1 braking zone and the other coming off near Turn 3 and being destroyed after Lando Norris ran over it — and debris from the detached fans prompted a roughly 10‑minute red flag while marshals cleared the track. The detached fans damaged Norris’s front wing and interrupted running, but qualifying was able to resume with about 10 minutes remaining.

The FIA summoned Mercedes to answer an alleged breach of Article B1.6.2 b) i) and the stewards ultimately fined the team €7,500, applying a monetary sanction rather than a grid penalty. Stewards also reviewed a separate matter in qualifying when a Mercedes team member briefly pushed Antonelli’s car away from the fast‑lane white line during a red flag; they judged that touch did not constitute prohibited “work” under Article B1.6.1e and imposed no penalty, describing the action as appropriate to prevent hindering other drivers.

The incident followed a heavy FP3 crash for Antonelli that left his car effectively totaled and required an extensive rebuild before qualifying; Mercedes said the crew member usually responsible for removing the cooling fans had been occupied because of that rebuild, a factor the team cited as contributing to the unsafe release. Despite the disruption and the stewards’ probes, Mercedes secured a front‑row lockout in qualifying with George Russell on pole (1:18.518) and Antonelli second (1:18.811), 0.293 seconds behind; the stewards’ findings highlighted pit‑lane safety procedures and the operational strain on teams during quick rebuilds between sessions.

Sources

Motorsport.com – NHRACrash.net – F1SpeedCafe – F1FIA – F1PlanetF1 – Formula 1ESPNMotorsportWeek – F1