Andrea Kimi Antonelli reclaims fourth place in Australia

The Italian thus regains his fourth place acquired at the finish of the Australian Grand Prix. Initially penalized for an unsafe release, his team relaunched him just in front of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg, Antonelli had been ranked fifth behind the Williams byAlexander albonThe 18-year-old driver therefore allowed his team to finish in third and fourth positions in the final Grand Prix classification.

As the rules require, Mercedes had 96 hours to request a review of the incident that led to the penalty. First, the FIA ​​stewards had to rule on the validity of the protest, which can only be accepted if the team presents "significant new evidence." After the stewards' team decided that the protest was valid, they proceeded to analyze the evidence provided by Mercedes, including a video from the onboard camera on the car Antonelli, as well as a helicopter view.

It appeared that the Italian driver waited longer in the pit lane to get in front of Hulkenberg's car, having looked in his mirrors while leaving enough space for the mechanics. McLaren On his right, Antonelli, according to the stewards, ensured he positioned himself in front of the Sauber without risk. This meant that the notion of "unsafe release" was no longer relevant, and the stewards therefore removed the five-second penalty that had initially been imposed on the Mercedes with the number 12.

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