Antonelli Barcelona F1 Penalty: FIA Reprimands Mercedes Driver After FP3
Kimi Antonelli drew the antonelli barcelona f1 penalty on Saturday when the FIA reprimanded the Mercedes driver after investigating his FP3 conduct at the Barcelona Grand Prix. The 19-year-old avoided a harsher sanction, but the stewards still ruled his driving in the session crossed the line before qualifying.
Antonelli and a Mercedes team representative were called to the stewards at 14:00 local time over the incident, and the FIA later ruled that he had been reprimanded for driving erratically. The decision followed a review of video, telemetry and in-car video evidence.
Barcelona FP3 Incident
The issue developed during FP3, when Antonelli grew increasingly frustrated as George Russell kept topping the timesheets. After coming across Lance Stroll’s number 18 car on a timed lap, he complained over the team radio to race engineer Peter Bonnington: “Oh my God, Stroll as always,”.
The stewards said Car 12 was impacted by Car 18 while approaching turn 1. After passing Car 18, the driver of Car 12 applied the brakes in front of Car 18 and prevented it from passing, which the FIA deemed driving in an erratic manner.
FIA Stewarding Decision
Antonelli’s hearing ended with a reprimand rather than a penalty, and the FIA said the driver admitted he had acted out of frustration and apologized for his action. That left the Mercedes driver with his first reprimand of the session after arriving in Catalonia with a healthy championship lead and fresh off his fifth consecutive grand prix victory in Monaco.
For Mercedes, the practical outcome is straightforward: Antonelli keeps racing through the weekend, but the Barcelona incident is now part of his official record. The stewards’ decision closes the immediate review of the FP3 clash, and it came ahead of qualifying on Saturday at Turn 2 after the complaint centered on the earlier exchange near turn 1.
Antonelli In Catalonia
Russell’s pace at the top of the sheet added pressure inside the garage, but the more important line from Barcelona is the one from the FIA report: Antonelli was judged to have driven erratically after a timed-lap dispute with Stroll. He left FP3 with the reprimand, not the result he wanted, and with qualifying arriving under the weight of that ruling.
