Mercedes’ terrible weekend at the Brazilian Grand Prix became worse after the FIA stated that they would be punished for an odd event.
With four drivers crashing out, numerous safety cars, and a red flag to go along with the pouring rain, the Interlagos race was, to put it mildly, hectic.
With qualifying being moved from Saturday night to the morning of the race owing to inclement weather, Sunday in Sao Paulo offered an extremely hectic schedule.
Max Verstappen eventually won the race, his first since June, and increased his lead over Lando Norris in the drivers’ title to 62 points.
The FIA fined Mercedes
Taking advantage of Norris’s bad start, Mercedes driver George Russell led the race in Brazil for a few laps before a virtual safety car was sent out on lap 28.
But after pitting, the Brit lost positions due to a poorly timed red flag, and he finished in fourth place, close behind the two Alpine drivers.
Lewis Hamilton, his seven-time world champion teammate, had a terrible weekend. He qualified for the main race in 16th place after finishing the sprint race in 11th place, and after a tumultuous afternoon, he only managed to finish the main race in 10th place.
Due to an incident that happened prior to the race, Mercedes was disciplined by the FIA after the Grand Prix.
Lance Stroll’s mishap on the formation lap, in which he crashed into the barriers, forced the race’s original starting procedure to be abandoned.
Because of this, the starting procedure was postponed by ten minutes, giving teams more time to get back onto the grid, put on their tire blankets, and get ready for the race.
During this period, Mercedes was reported to the stewards for allegedly violating the sports laws by changing the tire pressures on both vehicles after the tires had been installed.
Mercedes was fined €5000 for doing this to Hamilton’s car and €5000 for doing the same to Russell’s W15, which added up to a €10,000 fine for the team, the FIA subsequently confirmed in an official statement.
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