Breaking NEWS:George Russell to Start United States Grand Prix from Pit Lane After Heavy Crash in Qualifying
Breaking NEWS:George Russell to Start United States Grand Prix from Pit Lane After Heavy Crash in Qualifying
George Russell will begin the United States Grand Prix from the pit lane after a significant crash during qualifying forced Mercedes to repair his car, violating parc fermé rules. Russell had initially qualified in P6, but his accident in the final moments of Q3 not only ended his session prematurely but also prevented other drivers from improving their lap times due to the double-waved yellow flags. As a result, Lando Norris secured pole position without further challenge.
Mercedes had introduced upgrades to the car in Austin, but after the crash, the team confirmed they wouldn’t have enough spare components to rebuild Russell’s car with the same updates before the race. Russell acknowledged this issue but mentioned that his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, who qualified a disappointing P19, had graciously offered to swap the necessary parts to help. However, even with Hamilton’s offer, Mercedes was unable to fully restore Russell’s car to its updated configuration.
Ultimately, Mercedes made the decision to revert Russell’s car to an earlier specification, which required significant overnight work. This contravened Article 40.6 of the regulations, which states that cars must be sealed two hours after the conclusion of qualifying. Because of the extensive repairs and specification changes, Mercedes announced that Russell would start the race from the pit lane.
A Mercedes spokesperson explained that the team had to work through the night to complete the necessary repairs and revert the car’s setup, which ultimately led to the breach of parc fermé regulations.
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