George Russell received only a warning from the FIA stewards after being investigated for an incident during the qualifying session for the Formula 1 Spanish GP. The Mercedes driver finished Q3 in sixth position.
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Russell was called by the stewards for not correctly following the route determined by the race director when leaving the track at turn 5. Meanwhile, his teammate Kimi Antonelli secured a place on the front row of the starting grid in P2.
According to the decision, Russell left the track at turn 5 to allow another car to pass but returned to the track without going around the right side of the marker installed in the runoff area. During the hearing, the driver explained that he chose to stay to the left of the obstacle to return to the track earlier, as he was concerned about hindering the car behind.
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The British driver, however, acknowledged to the stewards that he could have gone around the marker and followed the indicated route. The analysis considered video evidence, telemetry, times, team radio, and images from the camera installed on the car.
In the decision, the stewards recognized that Russell acted in good faith but concluded that there were conditions for him to comply with the determined procedure. Therefore, the driver received a warning, with no other penalty related to the incident.
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