At the start of the race in Nevada Antonelli’s W16 moved forward marginally which triggered a 5s penalty from the Stewards. Having switched on to the hard tyres on lap 2 making full use of the virtual safety car prompted by a lap-1-turn-1 melee, the Italian was able to reach the chequered flag in P4, which became P5 after his 5 second sanction was implemented into his race time. After McLaren’s double DSQ, though, that result would undergo another conversion, this time into P3.

Having completed a remarkable P17-to-the-podium drive, Mercedes’ head of race engineering and Antonelli’s race engineer, Peter Bonnington, celebrated his driver’s feat whilst at the same time condemning the penalty as ‘complete BS’ over the onboard radio.

Mercedes team principal and CEO, Toto Wolff, however, adhered to the FIA’s decision, conceding he perceived ‘a little bit of movement’ from Antonelli’s side, which the team haven’t found a reason for.

“But it definitely wasn’t by releasing the clutch or getting off the brake pedal, so we shall see what the FIA says,” Wolff concluded.

Wolff has argued George Russell is the most underrated driver on the grid, highlighting his career wins in karting, Formula 3 and Formula 2, and his growth alongside Lewis Hamilton. Read his comments here.

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