Australian GP result changes as F1 stewards make U-turn on penalty decision after race

Australian GP result changes as F1 stewards make U-turn on penalty decision after race Newspoint | 16/03/2025 20:39:14

Mercedes have successfully appealed the penalty handed to rookie during the .

The rookie starred in Melbourne as he mastered treacherous conditions to turn 16th on the grid into a fourth-placed finish on track. However, he was bumped down to fifth as a result of a late penalty handed to him by the stewards.

Antonelli was penalised for an incident which was not even shown on the TV feed - leaving fans and even his boss in the dark about what had happened. Regardless, five seconds was added to his time which saw him drop below .

The stewards said Antonelli had been punished for an unsafe release in the pit lane. The driver had, in their view, forced to take avoiding action in his to prevent a collision.

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But a bewildered Wolff said: "You can only shake your head. It came up there's an incident. Nobody saw it, it wasn't played. And 90 seconds later, there was a penalty of five seconds."

Mercedes entered a right of review protest with shortly after the end of the race. And now it has been confirmed that their appeal has been successful as they were able to provide evidence that was not previously available to the stewards of their driver's innocence.

The stewards said: "The petitioner provided video from the roll hoop camera which was previously unavailable. This video was relevant and significant in the opinion of the stewards and was unavailable at the time of the original decision.

"Having examined the new video, plus additional video previously not available to the stewards and taken from the helicopter, the stewards decide to reverse the previous decision. As a result the penalty on Car 12 [Antonelli] is removed and no further action is required.

"It is clear that Car 12 did not cross into the fast lane until a significant distance down the pit lane and only after the driver checked his mirror to confirm clearance with Car 27. The roll hoop camera shows that he had sufficient room to safely pass the pits without risk to the McLaren mechanics."

Antonelli is promoted back into fourth place as a result to record a stunning debut result as an F1 driver. But the stewards' decision is bad news for Albon who drops down to fifth place - though both he and his team will still be delighted with the 10 points gained from the first race of the year.