After the controversy in Australia, another issue involved the Mercedes driver, George Russell, who was investigated for an unsafe release in the early stages of the qualifications at Suzuka in Japan. As he exited the pits, Russell almost came into contact with Oscar Piastri who fortunately avoided the worst. After listening to the parties, the commissioners then decided on the punishment for this maneuver.
The decision, no penalty for unsafe release but fine for Mercedes
George Russell's qualification was not at all satisfactory. George only managed to take ninth position, this time paying the price for the comparison with Lewis Hamilton. As if that wasn't enough, Russell's position was further put at risk by the investigation into Russell's unsafe release against Oscar Piastri. During Q1, Mercedes let Russell out of his garage. At the same time, Piastri arrived, forced to avoid the collision when the Englishman moved into the fast lane. The same George, questioned by the commissioners at the end of the session, declared that he had been forced to that move as his intention was to continue along the working lane, but had to swerve into the fastlane to avoid hitting a mechanic on teammate Lewis Hamilton's car.
Examine the evidence video and having listened to the interested parties, the commissioners published the following statement, exoneration of Russell: “Examination of the pit lane video shows that the 63 car mechanic who released the car did not look towards the pit lane to verify that it was clear and although the team's stated intention was for car 63 to move along the 'working lane' and then merge before exiting the pits, it is still the team's responsibility to release the car safely.”
However, the stewards detected the fault of the team which was fined €5.000. Therefore, no changes in the starting grid. A small relief for Russell who, starting ninth, will still have to recover, avoiding getting into any more trouble.
