FIA confirm verdict for pit lane infringement at Dutch Grand Prix
30th August 2025The FIA has given their verdict on the pit lane incident between Mercedes’ George Russell and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso during third practice at the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.
Feature image credit: Mercedes F1
The final hour went off without much incident, having experienced three red flags over the last two sessions, apart from a handful of moments, including the pit lane incident between Russell and Alonso.
As the session entered its last 15 minutes, Alonso was on a flying lap and tucked into the right side of the Zandvoort circuit down the pit lane. However, Russell, who was on the racing line, on the left, pulled across as he attempted to enter the pits.
In turn, Russell squeezed Alonso into the pit entry before he backed off and had to complete another rotation of the circuit, whilst Alonso was forced to drive through the pit lane.
During the hearing, Mercedes team representatives admitted that they did not warn Russell of Alonso, who was on a flying lap while the former was on a cool lap on his way back into the pit lane.
As such, the stewards imposed a fine of €7,500 on Mercedes for failing to warn Russell.
They also warned Russell for the incident, advising that he could have stayed more to the right to allow more space for faster cars coming around the corner.
“Car 14 [Alonso] was on a push lap and was exiting Turn 14 when Car 63 [Russell] was on a slow lap and had been instructed to enter the pits,” the Stewards report said.
“Car 14 went on the inside of Car 63 in an attempt to complete the lap but Car 63, taking a wide line before entering the pits, nearly collided with Car 14 at pit entry. Car 63 took evasive action and aborted the pit entry and continued on the track. Car 14 had to abort the lap and enter the pit lane to avoid a collision.
“It was clear to us that Car 63 had not been warned of the fact that Car 14 was approaching and that it was on a push lap. The team admitted this at the hearing and acknowledged that they ought to have warned the driver of Car 63 but did not do so.
“Their failure created a dangerous situation where both cars had to take evasive action to avoid a collision. We accept that the driver of Car 63 had no way of knowing that Car 14 was approaching, particularly given the nature of the circuit and the fact that Turn 14 is a blind corner. Merely looking at the mirrors would not have prevented what occurred. We accordingly imposed a fine of €7,500 on the team for failing to warn their driver appropriately.
“Nevertheless, given the nature of the circuit and the slow speed at which he was travelling, it would have been prudent for Car 63 to have kept more to the right of the track to leave space for faster cars coming around that corner. We also administer a warning to the driver for this.”
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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.
