George Russell's DRS Accident Reviewed by the FIA as Penalty Decision Given

Lando Norris was gaining on Russell after the McLaren driver got past Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, and ultimately finished just seven tenths away from Russell.

After the race was over, Russell said he felt it would of been "harsh" if he got penalized for opening his DRS considering all of the issues he was battling with the car.

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"There was technical problems. I backed off. It was probably open for less than a second, so...," Russell told Sky Sports F1.

"I don't know how it got triggered There were all sorts of problems going on with the transponder and the signal to the car."

"I honestly can't give you an answer because I was losing everything on my steering wheel as well, I had no data. I lost all of that, so I was really compromised in that last stint."

"I don't know, it would be exceptionally harsh if something happened."

Russell faced repercussions from the FIA when he and his teammate Kimi Antonelli entered the pitlane prematurely during qualifying.

Although he lost a grid position, he managed to recover during the race and finished in second place.

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"The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 63 (George Russell), team representatives and Mr Pearson and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, telemetry and team radio evidence," the FIA said after the race.

"The connection between the automated DRS activation system and the car failed due to issues with a timing loop provided by an external party."

"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." 

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"He was at the 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."

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