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George Russell escaped what seemed to be a potential penalty following a DRS infringement during the 2025 F1 Bahrain Grand Prix. The stewards noted that his DRS had activated when he was more than a second behind the car in front and he was summoned after the end of the race.
The Mercedes driver faced quite a few challenges during the Bahrain GP as he was racing within the podium positions when his race engineer made him aware of the issues his car was facing. There was a technical glitch that was interrupting his DRS activation, moreover, the car's transponder stopped working, and there was a possibility of the entire dash turning off.
After the DRS issue first appeared, the stewards noted that the #63 car had its rear wing flap open when he was more than a second behind the car in front. Following this, there was a possibility of a penalty or possible DSQ coming into Russell's way. However, after a meeting with the stewards, no penalty was levied on the driver.
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A statement from the FIA revealed that George Russell was facing issues with his car's electronics, and he had to use a different button on the wheel to manually override the DRS. This button, apparently, can also be used to communicate through the team radio. While attempting to do the latter, Russell's DRS was activated instead for a very short time.
This happened between turns 10 and 11 on the 700-meter straight, where his DRS was activated for 37 metres. Russell gained 0.02 seconds but lifted off early and lost 0.28 seconds to compensate.
Following these statements and confirming it from the telemetry, the FIA decided not to penalize the driver, as he had lost more time than he gained while compensating.
"I was really compromised": George Russell on facing several issues with the car
Commenting on the issues he faced during the race, Russell confirmed that it was a technical glitch. However, he did not have enough data about the same either because he had no information regarding the car because of the failing components.
"There was technical problems. I backed off," George Russell said via Sky Sports. "It was probably open for less than a second. I don't know how it got triggered. There were all sorts of problems going on with the transponder and the signal to the car."
"I honestly can't give you an answer because I was losing everything on my steering wheel as well, I had no data. I lost all of that, so I was really compromised in that last stint," he added.
Despite the technical issues he was facing with the car, George Russell managed to defend against Lando Norris in the McLaren. He finished the race in P2 to mark a strong finish for Mercedes.
