US Grand Prix starting grid changes as George Russell gets F1 penalty hours before race
He qualified sixth despite crashing at the very end of qualifying for the United States Grand Prix, but the damage done to George Russell’s car led to a parc ferme breach
George Russell is set to start the United States Grand Prix from the pit lane after his car was taken out of parc ferme.
The Brit had qualified sixth on the road in Austin on Saturday. However, he crashed at the very end of the session which brought a premature end to qualifying and left his mechanics with a hefty repair job.
And that work has led to a breach of parc ferme rules. FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer said he has reported an incident to the stewards and wrote in an official document: “Mercedes did not cover car number 63, driver George Russell, two hours after the end of the qualifying session, but continued to work on the car.
“As this is not in compliance with Article 40.6 of the 2024 Formula 1 Sporting Regulations, I am referring this matter to the Stewards of the meeting for their consideration.”
Confirmation of a pit lane start for Russell has yet to be given, but it is the standard punishment when parc ferme rules are breached in this manner. It means both he and Lewis Hamilton will be starting well outside the points.
The seven-time F1 champion suffered an embarrassing Q1 exit after a mistake on his final flying lap cost him half a second in the middle sector. It left Hamilton marooned down in 19th on the timesheets – his best effort faster only than Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu.
Confronted with the best case scenario of starting 18th, courtesy of an engine penalty for Liam Lawson, Hamilton offered his new upgraded parts to team-mate Russell who revealed that he had declined the kind offer from his fellow Brit.
George Russell crashed his Mercedes in US Grand Prix qualifying ( Image: Sky Sports)
Russell said: “Lewis has already kindly offered me his [upgraded parts] but we are not going to do that. It is a real shame, everyone back at base deserves better but we are all pushing the limits here to try to get the car on the front row and fight for big results and we achieved it yesterday, today it is the opposite.”
Russell’s crash denied Max Verstappen the chance to fight for pole as he had to abandon his final flying lap. So Lando Norris was able to secure top spot unchallenged, while the Dutchman will line up alongside him on the front row.
Ferrari pair Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc will hope to be in the mix after locking out the second row. And Oscar Piastri in fifth will no longer have the threat of Russell behind him from the very beginning of the race.
