On the chequered flag of the Bahrain Grand Prix, George Russell’s Mercedes finishes in second place, however the Briton’s result’s shaky. Automobile #63 was in truth famous by the stewards for having opened the DRS at a time when it wasn’t allowed and must face a prolonged dialogue with FIA stewards to make clear the incident. The one who may gain advantage from a potential penalty for George Russell is Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who crossed the end line only a few seconds behind the Brit. But, within the post-race part, the Prancing Horse didn’t push for a sanction towards the rival driver: why?
Smooth Ferrari: no stress for a George Russell penalty
Components One is, as we all know, the head of motorsport competitors, and each element could make the distinction. Firstly of a season nonetheless with none podiums, many had been stunned by the politically passive perspective of the Maranello crew relating to the potential penalty for George Russell, which might have delivered Leclerc’s first podium of 2025. Within the post-race interview with Sky Italia, Ferrari crew principal Fred Vasseur even downplayed what occurred with the Mercedes driver. “He misplaced the transponder so we had neither the information nor the GPS. I feel it was his mistake, however I don’t assume they’ll penalise him as a result of the benefit was actually small.”
Then nothing extra. Nobody from the Ferrari storage raised their voice to try to seize the season’s first podium after the race. Following a protracted dialogue after the occasion, the Federation determined to show a blind eye to the Russell episode, after verifying Mercedes’s technical difficulties and the minimal benefit gained by the Brit.
Not simply George Russell: DRS additionally opened for Charles Leclerc
To seek out a solution for Ferrari’s lack of “stress” in the direction of the FIA stewards, it might be helpful to contemplate two episodes: a crew radio from Charles Leclerc and an onboard shot from the Monegasque’s SF-25. Russell wasn’t the one one to open the DRS at a forbidden second. Charles Leclerc himself, probably as a consequence of the transponder situation with the Mercedes forward of him, opened the rear wing for a fraction of a second whereas going by means of a nook. Noticing this anomaly, the Monegasque promptly requested his engineer Bryan Bozzi: “What the hell occurred? Why do I’ve the DRS energetic?” The engineer’s reply was clear: “There was an issue with the transponders, use the DRS solely once I let you know.”
The anomalous DRS opening on automotive #16 was additionally captured by one of many onboard cameras on the SF-25. From the rear-facing digital camera, which was monitoring an attacking Lando Norris, you possibly can clearly see Leclerc’s DRS all of the sudden open in flip 12.
Did Ferrari keep away from “pushing” the stewards to keep away from an investigation into Charles Leclerc? Or, contemplating the probably connection between the 2 incidents, ought to the Italian crew have tried to exert some type of “political stress” on the FIA?
LECLERC PUSO EL DRS EN MITAD DE UNA CURVA.
Lo quito rápidamente, pero ni se ha anotado esto.
📰 Créditos a @ramsescr63
— ElReyGuiri (@ElReyGuiri) April 13, 2025
— see video above —-
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