FIA stewards make decision on punishing Kimi Antonelli as Azerbaijan GP grid set

Kimi Antonelli avoided a grid penalty for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as the FIA stewards opted to hand the Mercedes driver a reprimand for a yellow flag infringement during qualifying. The incident in question took place during the early stages of Q1.

Williams racer Alex Albon made a mistake on the entry to Turn One, clipping the inside barrier with his front-left tyre and destroying the suspension of his FW47 machine. Race engineer Peter Bonnington informed Antonelli of the yellow flags on the radio, but he couldn't see the caution waving. He did abandon his lap, though, which ultimately ensured that he did not receive a grid penalty for his mistake.

After reviewing the incident, the stewards published their report, confirming a reprimand for Antonelli. "The driver of Car 12 was not shown a yellow flag or yellow light panel, however, his dash did very briefly display a yellow indication which then disappeared," they explained.

"The driver passed two cars, then the team advised him to abandon the lap as there was concern that perhaps there was a double yellow flag condition (when in fact there was not). The driver then abandoned the lap. No sporting advantage was gained. In view of the mitigating circumstances and consistent with previous similar incidents, a reduced penalty of a reprimand is imposed."

This ruling was a major relief for Antonelli, who enjoyed one of his best F1 qualifying sessions on a day when more experienced heads faltered. While the likes of Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc found the barriers in Q3, the Italian teenager put his Mercedes car on the second row of the grid, ahead of team-mate George Russell.

For the latest breaking stories and headlines, sign up to our Daily Express F1 newsletter, or join our WhatsApp community here.

"That was a very difficult qualifying session for everyone out there! We had really windy conditions but also rain which made the white lines around the circuit in particular feel like ice.

"Judging how much to push and when was a real challenge, and that wasn't helped by all the red flag interruptions. You usually want to get into a rhythm for qualifying, but that wasn't possible today. For my last run, we opted to take the Medium tyre. I couldn't quite get the required temperature into it as the track was still cold and slippery.

"I also lost a few tenths with a gust of wind into the final corner. Without those, I think we could have been on the front row. That is a shame, but we still have a decent starting position for tomorrow. Hopefully, we can look forward and be in the battle for the top three."

The teenager has a strong chance of scoring his second F1 podium with Williams' Carlos Sainz and Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson starting ahead of him on Sunday.