Mercedes fined €7,500 for Kimi Antonelli incident in F1 Australian GP qualifying

Mercedes has been fined €7,500 for sending the car of Kimi Antonelli out on track in an “unsafe condition” during qualifying for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver caused an early red flag in Q3 after duct cooling fans were left on his W17, with one flying away in the Turn 1 braking zone and the other coming off approaching Turn 3 at Albert Park.

It was the second fan which caused the biggest problem because it bounced back onto the track and reigning world champion Lando Norris subsequently ran over it.

The McLaren driver therefore asked his team to check damage on his front left, but all seemed okay and the session resumed with 10 minutes remaining at Albert Park.

A stewards report read: “The team explained that an incident in an earlier session in which Car 12 (Antonelli) had sustained significant damage meant that the division of labour within the team had to be changed to repair the damage within a short time frame.

“Usually, a separate team member would have responsibility for inserting and removing each fan, but the need to address legacy issues from the earlier incident during the session meant that the team member responsible for the fan on that side of the car was occupied on another task and the removal of the fan before the car was released from the garage was missed.

“The team (and the driver) were unaware that the fan had not been removed until the incident was noted by race control. The stewards determine that because Car 12 left its garage with a piece of equipment still attached, it was released in an unsafe condition and the stewards impose a fine on the competitor accordingly.”

It was a small mistake on an otherwise successful day for the Silver Arrows, as George Russell led Antonelli in a dominant 1-2 during the 2026 season-opening weekend. 

Russell claimed pole by 0.293s with his teenage team-mate 0.492s ahead of the next fastest car, which was the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar – who is joined on the second row by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

This represented a remarkable turnaround for Antonelli because his big crash at Turn 1 in final practice left him in doubt for qualifying, but Max Verstappen’s crash at the same chicane aided the repair effort of Mercedes.

That’s because the four-time world champion’s incident caused a red flag early in Q1, giving time for Antonelli to go out in his repaired car and claim his second front row start for a grand prix – second in Brazil last year being the other.

“It’s been a very, very stressful day,” said the F1 sophomore. “Unfortunately in FP3 I went into the wall, but the guys, the mechanics, today were the heroes to put the car back on track.

George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

“We couldn’t even set up the car, we just went out and just managed to put it on the front row. So I’m really happy with that.”

Stewards were also investigating Antonelli for a separate Q1 incident after he entered the fast lane in the pits, before a team member pushed his car back to avoid hindering other drivers. No further action was the decision.

Photos from Australian GP – Saturday

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