Russell escapes Bahrain penalty, but Hulkenberg stripped of P13

George Russell retained his hard-fought second place in the Bahrain Grand Prix, despite the stewards confirming he activated his DRS outside a designated zone.

The Mercedes driver, who finished just 0.774 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, faced scrutiny after the race for the infringement on lap 45.

However, in a rare move, the FIA stewards opted against any penalty, citing no sporting advantage was gained during the incident, which occurred amidst a flurry of technical issues with Russell’s W16.

A Technical Glitch and an Accidental Activation

Russell’s troubles began with a timing system failure that disrupted the automated DRS mechanism, forcing manual activation. The stewards detailed the chaotic circumstances:

“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 in accordance with Article 22.1 h).

“At the time the driver was experiencing a brake-by-wire issue and other electronic issues. He was at that time advised to use an auxiliary button in the cockpit which serves as a back-up radio button but also serves as a manual DRS activation button.

“On the straight between turns 10 and 11 he tried to radio the team using this button but instead accidentally activated the DRS.”

No Advantage, No Punishment

The stewards’ investigation revealed the breach was fleeting and self-corrected.

“The DRS was activated for a distance of 37 metres on a straight of approximately 700 metres. Whilst he gained 0.02 seconds, he gave up 0.28 seconds at the next corner to compensate.

“This was confirmed by telemetry. Accordingly whilst technically a breach occurred, the stewards decide that as there was no sporting advantage gained, no penalty is imposed.”

Russell’s quick reaction to slow down preserved his podium, a small mercy in a race fraught with electronic woes for the Briton.

No leniency for Hulkenberg

Unfortunately, the stewards were not as lenient with Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg following a post-race control that revealed a non-compliant rear skid block on the German driver’s C45.

According to a technical report issued after the race: "Measurements were taken along the stiffness compliant area at three different points of the periphery (inner arc). The recorded measurement were 8.4 mm (LHS), 8.5 mm (car centerline) and 8.4 mm (RHS)."

Since these measurements fell short of the 9mm minimum thickness mandated by the FIA’s TR Article 3.5.9 e, the matter was referred to the stewards and led to the German driver's disqualification from P13.

Sauber is the second team to be caught out by an excessively worn skid plank since the beginning of the season, with Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton thrown out of the Chinese Grand Prix last month for the same failure.

All drivers that finished below Hulkenberg move up a position in the race’s final standings.

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