George Russell receives verdict as F1 stewards confirm rule breach
The Formula 1 stewards have given their verdict after determining that George Russell broke the rules as he drove to finish in second place at the Bahrain Grand Prix
George Russell has avoided a post-race penalty for breaking DRS rules at the Bahrain Grand Prix. That is despite the stewards confirming that there was an infringement and that he did indeed breach the rules by using the system at the wrong time during the race.
The DRS allows a flap to open in the rear wing of a Formula 1 car to allow more air to pass through, reducing wind resistance and making the car go faster. But it can only be used in certain areas of a circuit and only when a car is less than one second behind another.
But Russell was suffering with a malfunctioning Mercedes car in the latter stages of Sunday’s race. And, after pressing the radio button on his steering wheel, the DRS flap opened for a small amount of time when it should not have.
Speaking after the race, the Brit confirmed that it had happened. But he insisted that, to make up for it, he lifted off the accelerator and was adamant that he had lost more time doing that than he gained from the DRS flap opening.
And the stewards were happy with that outcome. After an investigation, they determined that Russell had breached the F1 sporting regulations but decided against giving the Brit a penalty. They said: “The connection between the automated DRS activation system and the car failed due to issues with a timing loop provided by an external party. Therefore the FIA authorised manual activation of the DRS.
At the time, the driver was dealing with a brake-by-wire malfunction along with other electronic issues. He was instructed to use an auxiliary cockpit button that typically functions as a backup radio but can also manually activate the DRS.
While on the straight between Turns 10 and 11, he attempted to contact the team via this button but unintentionally triggered the DRS. It remained open for 37 metres on a roughly 700-metre straight.
Although this resulted in a gain of 0.02 seconds, he lost 0.28 seconds at the following corner to compensate, as confirmed by telemetry. As a result, while there was a technical infringement, the stewards ruled that no sporting advantage was gained and chose not to apply a penalty.
Russell ended the race in second place, finishing between the two McLaren drivers on the podium. Oscar Piastri took his second win of the season, narrowing the gap to his teammate and championship leader Lando Norris—who finished third—to just three points.
After the race, Russell said: “It felt under control initially, but then the brake-by-wire failed, causing the brake pedal to feel inconsistent—I couldn’t tell what was happening. Then, the steering wheel had issues too. It was a tough battle to keep Lando behind. I think if there’d been one more lap, he would’ve passed me easily, but I’m really happy with second place.”
