How Mercedes convinced Australian GP stewards to overturn Antonelli penalty

Kimi Antonelli was handed a five-second time penalty towards the end of the Australian Grand Prix which demoted him from fourth to fifth.

The stewards deemed the rookie was unsafely released into the path of Nico Hulkenberg during the race.

However, shortly after the chequered flag, Mercedes lodged a protest of the race result as it felt Antonelli had been wrongly penalised.

The stewards did not take long to deliberate the matter and reinstated Antonelli to fourth place. But why did they do so? 

Mercedes had 96 hours before the deadline to lodge the right to review was due.

However, it submitted its protest well before the expiry date and brought a fresh camera angle to the stewards for their consideration.

The stewards described this as “significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the party seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned”.

The new camera angle in question was from the roll hoop of the car, the footage from which was downloaded and sent to the stewards by Mercedes.

The stewards studied the fresh evidence provided by the Brackley-based squad and judged that Antonelli “did not cross into the fast lane until a significant distance down the pit lane”.

They also noticed that the driver moved over “only after the driver checked his mirror to confirm clearance” with Hulkenberg. 

“The roll hoop camera shows that he had sufficient room to safely pass the McLaren pits without risk to the McLaren mechanics,” the statement added.

Antonelli's promotion to fourth place draws Mercedes level with McLaren on 27 points, with the latter leading the constructors' championship due to Lando Norris' win at Albert Park.