FIA fine team after pit lane breach during Dutch GP FP2
29th August 2025The FIA Stewards have given their verdict on an incident between McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Mercedes’ George Russell, during second practice at the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.
Feature image credit: McLaren Racing
During FP2, on the opening day of the Dutch GP and F1’s resumption of its season, there was an incident between the championship leader Piastri and Mercedes’ leading driver Russell.
The FIA determined the fact that Piastri had made ‘two changes of direction’ inside the fast lane of the pit lane, during a red flag period, and forced Russell to avoid a collision.
In the incident, Piastri was on his way into the pit box but was directed by another member of his team to enter the next pit area as the first box was blocked by a member pushing a rear jack. In doing so, Piastri re-entered the fast lane of the pits, thus making two changes of direction.
As he re-entered the fast lane, Russell was forced to hit the brakes hard and take evasive action to avoid a collision with Piastri.
Whilst the Stewards acknowledged the incident caused no collision, the officials argued that the situation could’ve caused an accident and injury to team personnel inside the pit lane. As such, McLaren was fined €5,000 for the incident.
The team representatives agreed that the situation could have been managed better, as Piastri was not warned of Russell’s presence behind. In the report, the Stewards said:
“Car 81 [Piastri] attempted to leave the fast lane and enter its pit box during a Red Flag period in Free Practice 2. As Car 81 approached the pit box, the entry was blocked by team personnel pushing a rear jack.
“Another team member signalled Car 81 to go around him to the next pit area which he did. In doing so, he turned back briefly within the fast lane and thereafter entered the pit box.
“All of this resulted in Car 63 having to brake heavily and take evasive action. No collision was caused, however, the situation could have resulted in one. It could also have resulted in injury to one or more team personnel in the pit lane.
“The team acknowledged that the driver was not warned and also recognised that they could have managed the situation better. We agreed that the team should have taken more care in managing the entry of Car 81 into the pit box.
“Although we issued the Summons based on Article 55.5 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations, we felt that Article 12.2.1.h better reflected the infringement by the team in this instance. We therefore imposed a fine of €5,000 under that Article.”
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
