Great news for Andrea Kimi Antonelli! After the Italian was handed a five-second time penalty in the closing stages of the Australian GP for an alleged unsafe release, this decision was later overturned by the stewards. As a result, Antonelli has regained his fourth place from Alexander Albon, behind his teammate George Russell. Mercedes is now level with McLaren in the constructors’ championship.
It was a spectacular debut for Mercedes’ talent, Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Amidst all the chaos in Melbourne, he crossed the finish line unscathed. Moreover, he drove from the sixteenth starting position to the fourth place on the grid. While all other rookies, except for Haas driver Oliver Bearman, had to retire early, the 18-year-old Antonelli remained unharmed.
Decision Overturned
Initially, he had to relinquish his fourth place to Alexander Albon. The stewards gave the young Italian a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release in the pit lane. However, Mercedes appealed to the FIA and presented a number of new camera images from the garage. Therefore, the penalty was annulled and Antonelli regained his fourth place. A great result for Mercedes, which, with George Russell on the podium, is now level with championship leader McLaren.”There is important and relevant new information that was not available at the time of the decision,” the FIA wrote in an official statement. “The submitter (Mercedes) has provided video footage that was not previously available. After studying this footage, plus additional material that was not previously available, the stewards have decided to reverse their decision. As a result, the penalty for car number twelve is withdrawn and no further action is required.” With this, Antonelli has achieved the best result for a rookie since Kevin Magnussen‘s second place in Australia in 2014.
