13/04/2025 22:00
George Russell faced a familiar situation after the chequered flag
in Bahrain as for the second successive day, he faced a trip to the
stewards after classifying in second place. Russell lost his
front-row starting position on Saturday following a pit lane error
in Bahrain and was at risk of a similar fate on Sunday. During the
race, Russell's drag reduction system (DRS) opened up despite not
being within one second of a car ahead in the detection zone.
Russell immediately declared after the grand prix that he pressed
the radio button which resulted in the DRS flap opening as the team
navigated various electronic issues. The stewards confirmed that
this was the case - and acknowledged Russell gave up two-tenths of
a second on his own accord after gaining two-hundredths by opening
DRS. "The connection between the automated DRS activation system
and the car failed due to issues with a timing loop provided by an
external party," read a statement from the stewards. "Therefore
the FIA authorised manual activation of the DRS in accordance with
Article 22.1 h). "At the time the driver was experiencing a
brake-by-wire issue and other electronic issues. He was at that
time advised to use an auxiliary button in the cockpit which serves
as a back up radio button but also serves as a manual DRS
activation button. "On the straight between turns 10 and 11 he
tried to radio the team using this button but instead accidentally
activated the DRS. The DRS was activated for a distance of 37
metres on a straight of approximately 700 metres. "Whilst he
gained 0.02 seconds, he gave up 0.28 seconds at the next corner to
compensate. This was confirmed by telemetry. "Accordingly whilst
technically a breach occurred the Stewards decide that as there was
no sporting advantage gained, no penalty is imposed."
