Mercedes was fined 7,500 euros for sending Kimi Antonelli‘s car to the track in an “unsafe condition” during qualifying for the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver caused an early red flag in Q3 after the left-side cooling fan remained installed on his W17. One part was thrown off in the Turn 1 braking zone and the other came off when approaching Turn 3 at Albert Park.
It was the second piece that caused the biggest problem, as it bounced back onto the track and reigning world champion Lando Norris subsequently ran over it.
The McLaren driver then asked his team to check for possible damage to the left front of his car, but everything appeared to be in order and the session resumed with 10 minutes remaining at Albert Park.
A stewards’ report stated: “The team explained that an incident in a previous session in which Car 12 (Antonelli) suffered significant damage meant that the division of tasks within the team had to be modified to repair the car in a short period of time.
“Normally, a different team member would be responsible for placing and removing each fan, but the need to address issues arising from the previous incident during the session meant that the team member responsible for the fan on that side of the car was busy with another task, and the fan was not removed before the car left the garage.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
“The team (and driver) were unaware that the fan had not been removed until the incident was reported by race management. The stewards determine that, since Car 12 left its garage with a piece of equipment still installed, it was released in an unsafe condition and, consequently, the stewards impose a fine on the competitor.”
It was a small mistake on an otherwise successful day for the Silver Arrows, as George Russell led a dominant 1-2 lead over Antonelli during the opening weekend of the 2026 season.
Russell took pole by 0.293 seconds, with his teenage teammate 0.492 seconds ahead of the next fastest car, which was the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar, who will share the second row with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
This represented a notable recovery for Antonelli, because his heavy accident in Turn 2 in final practice had left him in doubt for qualifying, but Max Verstappen’s accident in the same chicane helped Mercedes’ repair work.
This was because the four-time world champion’s incident caused a red flag at the start of Q1, allowing time for Antonelli to come out with his repaired car and make his second front-row start in a grand prix, the other being in Brazil last year.
“It’s been a very, very stressful day,” said the driver in his second season in F1. “Unfortunately in FP3 I went into the wall, but today the guys, the mechanics, were the heroes by putting the car back on the track.
“We couldn’t even adjust the car; we just went out and managed to get it on the front row. So I’m very happy with that.”
Stewards also investigated Antonelli for a separate incident in Q1 after he entered the pitlane fast lane before a team member pushed his car backwards to avoid impeding other drivers. The decision was not to take further action.
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