George Russell starts from pit lane at US GP after parc ferme breach

George Russell will start the United States Grand Prix from the pit lane after an enforced parc ferme breach from the Mercedes team.

Mercedes had to break the ‘cars covered’ period two hours after the end of qualifying and worked through the night to repair Russell’s car following his Q3 crash on Saturday at the Circuit of The Americas track.

George Russell to start from the pit lane at United States Grand Prix

Russell’s heavy crash at Turn 19 summed up a day to forget for Mercedes as they also suffered with a rare Q1 exit for Lewis Hamilton, who has a recovery mission of his own to complete from P17 on the starting grid.

The FIA filed a report at 10:18 local time ahead of the race to state:

‘The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team did not cover car number 63, driver George Russell, two (2) hours after the end of the qualifying session, but continued to work on the car.

‘As this is not in compliance with Article 40.6 of the 2024 Formula One Sporting Regulations, this matter is referred to the Stewards of the meeting for their consideration.’

Article 40.6 of the F1 2024 sporting regulations state:

‘Within two (2) hours of the end of both the qualifying session and the sprint session (where it is scheduled) all cars used during each session (or which were intended for use but failed to leave the pit lane) must be covered and ready for FIA seals to be applied in order to ensure that they remain secure until the following day.

‘For marketing purposes this deadline may be extended for one car from each Competitor for a maximum of two (2) hours by prior arrangement with the Technical Delegate. Whilst cars are covered overnight, they may be fitted with devices to keep them warm.’

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After such a big crash with a lot of damage sustained to Russell’s W15, Mercedes needed to work overtime in order to get his car ready for race day and they have also been forced to revert his car to the Singapore spec.

Team-mate Lewis Hamilton had offered his own Austin upgrades to be fitted to Russell’s car but the team have collectively decided not to go through with the seven-time World Champion’s generous request.

Russell told media including PlanetF1.com at COTA after the crash: “I mean, right now, the concern is about the [upgraded] bits. So, you know, we will have to revert on the upgrades.

“Lewis has kindly offered his ones, but we’re not going to.

“I mean, all season when the car’s in the sweet spot, we’re fighting for poles and wins.

“Yesterday, we were both fighting for pole, and today [Saturday] we were both almost out in Q1 and you know, I really pushed it on that last lap, ultimately trying to find performance that wasn’t there — and paid the price.

“I’m really just disappointed with myself, because everyone’s worked so hard to bring the upgrades.”

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