Mercedes have withdrawn their Right of Review request over George Russell’s Monaco Grand Prix penalty, ending one strand of Formula 1’s pit-lane speeding row.
The team had asked the FIA to revisit the decisions linked to Russell’s Monaco race after Alpine succeeded in overturning Pierre Gasly’s own speeding penalty, a move that restored Gasly to the podium. Russell had been hit with a pit-lane speeding penalty during the race and then a drive-through for failing to serve it correctly, dropping him to 12th after he had been in podium contention.
Mercedes step back as FIA review continues
Mercedes said further pursuit of the case would not serve the team or the sport after discussions with the FIA and Formula 1 showed what it called a determination to review the Monaco circumstances and address the factors behind them, according to Formula1.com.
The decision means Russell’s Monaco result remains untouched, but the issue has not vanished. The wider argument now sits around how F1 handles in-race penalties when later evidence suggests the underlying timing data or procedure may have been flawed.
For Mercedes, the immediate benefit is clarity before Austria. Russell and Toto Wolff can move away from a legal process that risked dragging the Monaco debate into another race weekend, even if the episode still leaves uncomfortable questions about consistency and remedy when a penalty has already been served on track.
