George Russell discovers Dutch GP stewards verdict after 'dangerous situation'

George Russell escaped with only a warning and a small fine to his Mercedes team after nearly crashing with Fernando Alonso at the Dutch Grand Prix. During FP3, the Brit was creeping over to the left-hand side of the track to enter the pit lane, unaware that the Aston Martin driver was approaching at speed behind him.

Alonso was on a flying lap with less than 10 minutes remaining in the session, and rounded the banked final corner with Russell's Mercedes on the horizon. The Brit was planning on entering the pit lane but was wandering slowly across the track, prompting the two-time world champion to attempt an overtake on the inside. As he approached at speed, the gap narrowed rapidly, forcing the F1 veteran to dive into the pit lane and causing the Mercedes man to stay out unplanned.

The incident was placed under investigation by race control, who then summoned both drivers to the stewards. After a review, the FIA decided that Russell's move was worthy of a warning and a €7,500 fine (£6,500), labelling it a 'dangerous situation'.

"It was clear to us that Car 63 had not been warned of the fact that Car 14 was approaching and that it was on a push lap," the stewards explained in their report. "The team admitted this at the hearing and acknowledged that they ought to have warned the driver of Car 63 but did not do so.

"Their failure created a dangerous situation where both cars had to take evasive action to avoid a collision. We accept that the driver of Car 63 had no way of knowing that Car 14 was approaching, particularly given the nature of the circuit and the fact that Turn 14 is a blind corner.

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"Merely looking at the mirrors would not have prevented what occurred. We accordingly imposed a fine of €7,500 on the team for failing to warn their driver appropriately.

"Nevertheless, given the nature of the circuit and the slow speed at which he was travelling, it would have been prudent for Car 63 to have kept more to the right of the track to leave space for faster cars coming around that corner. We also administer a warning to the driver for this."

Alonso's Aston Martin team will be thankful to have avoided a collision and another rebuild effort. Team Silverstone's engineers were forced to break curfew overnight to repair the damage to Lance Stroll's AMR25 machine after he crashed hard into the Turn Three barriers in FP2 on Friday.