Mercedes withdraws request to review F1 Monaco GP result

The Mercedes Formula 1 team has decided to withdraw its request to review the Monaco Grand Prix result and George Russell’s penalties.

A virtual hearing had been set to be held at 8am on Saturday morning, but on Thursday evening the FIA stewards were informed by Mercedes of its decision to withdraw its appeal. 

"The Stewards have been informed by Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team that they are withdrawing the petition for Review in respect of the decisions of the Stewards of the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix, breach of Article B1.6.3a of the FIA F1 Regulations in relation to Car 63," the stewards said in a statement. 

Mercedes felt that Russell lost a potential podium due to his penalty for pit lane speeding which it believes was incorrectly applied. He received an additional drive-through penalty because Mercedes failed to serve the first punishment correctly.

As a result of the penalties, Russell dropped outside of the points and was demoted to 12th. 

While the stewards acknowledged that Formula One Management made a measurement error that led to the multiple speeding infringements, they underlined they do not have the power to ‘undo’ penalties that are served during races.

Mercedes lodged a right of review petition following Alpine’s successful challenge against the penalties issued during the race to Pierre Gasly.

As a result of having two five-second time penalties rescinded, Gasly was reinstated to third place on the podium, the position he finished on the road.

The key difference between Russell’s penalties and Gasly’s were that the latter were applied after the race, and not during it.

Mercedes had already admitted during the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix weekend that it didn’t believe it was likely to win the case.

"We've asked for a right of review, because you just simply want to sit on the table when decisions are being made," Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said. "[But] I still think it's a long shot.”

Wolff added: “A drive-through, if it didn’t happen at the end, is equivalent of 20 seconds race time. What would 20 seconds race time have meant for his result?

“Do we think that we realistically have a position, a chance of reverting the result? I don’t think so, but we definitely have to give it a go if we see that there is a millimetre of chance to do so and bring him back to whatever it was before.”

Confirmation of Mercedes' withdrawal means the team has accepted Russell's P12 result as final. 

McLaren and Red Bull have submitted an appeal with the FIA International Court of Appeal. An independent panel will review their cases in Paris, though a date has not been set.