FIA confirms double Mercedes, George Russell punishment after Alonso near miss
The FIA is F1's governing body
The FIA has announced that Mercedes has been fined €7,500 with George Russell given a warning after a near miss with Fernando Alonso in final practice at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Alonso was completing a fast lap in the closing stages of FP3 at Zandvoort when he moved across the circuit, seemingly in search of a tow from Russell’s car ahead.
FIA fines Mercedes, warns George Russell after Dutch GP incident
Russell moved to the right towards the pit entry, squeezing Alonso between the Mercedes and the wall as the pair almost made contact.
Russell aborted his decision to pit and elected to continue on the circuit as Alonso went straight through the pit lane without stopping.
Alonso appeared to point the finger at Russell in the immediate aftermath of the incident, telling Aston Martin over team radio: “They don’t look in their mirrors.”
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The stewards noted the incident before it was announced that they would investigate it post-session.
Alonso and Russell, along with team representatives from Aston Martin and Mercedes, were required to report to the stewards at 12:55 local time over an alleged breach of Article 37.5 and/or Article 33.4′ of the sporting regulations.
The charge related to ‘Car 63 allegedly impeding Car 14 and/or driving erratically at the pit entry.’
The FIA confirmed ahead of qualifying that Mercedes has been handed a fine of €7,500 for failing to inform Russell that Alonso was approaching and on a push lap, with the driver escaping with a warning.
The stewards’ verdict read: “The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 63 (George Russell), the driver of Car 14 (Fernando Alonso), team representatives and reviewed video, timing, team radio and in-car video evidence.
“Car 14 was on a push lap and was exiting Turn 14 when Car 63 was on a slow lap and had been instructed to enter the pits.
“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.”
Russell and Alonso ended the session in third and 10th respectively as McLaren driver Lando Norris topped FP3.
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Alonso’s Aston Martin team has enjoyed a promising start to the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, with the high-downforce demands of the Zandvoort circuit suiting the AMR25 car.
The two-time World Champion was a fixture in the top four on Friday, lapping just 0.087 seconds slower than the dominant McLaren of Norris in FP2.
Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll has also showed encouraging pace at Zandvoort, with the Canadian classified third in FP1 before crashing heavily in Friday’s afternoon session.
Stroll returned to the cockpit on Saturday to post the eighth-fastest time in FP3.
Russell, who sits fourth in the F1 2025 standings, is going in search of his second victory of the season this weekend after claiming his fourth career win at the Canadian Grand Prix in June.
As reported by PlanetF1.com on July 30, Russell is close to agreeing a new multi-year contract with Mercedes for the F1 2026 season and beyond.
Read next: Dutch GP: Norris secures practice hat-trick as Alonso and Russell face post-FP3 investigation
