Melbourne, March 16 The five-second time penalty handed to Kimi Antonelli during the Australian Grand Prix has been removed after Mercedes submitted a successful ‘Right of Review’ request over the incident that sparked the penalty.
In an action-packed race that featured changing weather conditions, the stewards deemed that Antonelli had been released into the path of Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg in the pit lane and subsequently handed the Italian a five-second time penalty.
While Antonelli had worked his way forward from a starting slot of P16 to cross the line in P4, the penalty resulted in the teenager being dropped down to P5 in what was his debut F1 race.
However, after Mercedes petitioned for a ‘Right of Review’, a hearing took place in which the Silver Arrows presented “video from the roll hoop camera, which was previously unavailable".
After this was examined – along with additional video not previously available to the stewards taken from the helicopter – the decision was taken to remove Antonelli’s penalty, promoting him back up to fourth place.
In a document released following the hearing – which was attended by representatives from Mercedes and Kick Sauber as well as Williams, the latter having benefitted from the penalty given that Antonelli’s demotion promoted Alex Albon up to fourth – the reasoning behind the stewards’ decision to reverse the penalty was explained.
“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," the document reads.
“The roll hoop camera shows that he had sufficient room to safely pass the McLaren pits without risk to the McLaren mechanics.”
The document also issues a reminder that competitors have the right to appeal certain decisions from the stewards.
Antonelli being reinstated in P4 means that the Italian takes home an additional two points, which now ties Mercedes with McLaren at the top of the Teams’ Championship standings on 27 points each.
Albon, meanwhile, is now awarded 10 points rather than 12, which does not affect Williams’ position in fourth.
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