Mercedes’ disastrous weekend at the Brazilian Grand Prix took a turn for the worse as the FIA announced their punishment for an unusual incident.
The race at Interlagos was chaotic, featuring multiple safety cars, four drivers crashing out, and a red flag due to heavy rain.
Sunday in Sao Paulo was packed, with qualifying held in the morning after being postponed the night before because of poor weather.
Max Verstappen ultimately won the race, marking his first victory since June and increasing his lead in the drivers’ championship over Lando Norris to 62 points.
George Russell, a standout for Mercedes, briefly led the race after capitalizing on a slow start from Norris.
However, a poorly timed red flag after he had already pitted caused him to lose positions, finishing in fourth place behind two Alpine drivers.
Lewis Hamilton had a particularly rough weekend, ending the sprint race in 11th, qualifying 16th for the main event, and finishing 10th after a series of errors.
Following the Grand Prix, Mercedes faced sanctions from the FIA due to an incident that occurred before the race.
The starting procedure was delayed by 10 minutes after Lance Stroll crashed during the formation lap. This delay allowed teams to rush back to the grid to adjust their cars.
During this time, Mercedes was reported for allegedly changing the tyre pressures on both cars after the tyres had been fitted, which violated sporting regulations.
The FIA later announced that Mercedes was fined €5,000 for the infraction on Hamilton’s car and €5,000 for Russell’s, totaling €10,000 for the team.
