Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team explained that the mechanic responsible for removing the cooling fan from the car was occupied with another task related to an earlier incident, which resulted in the fan not being removed before Kimi Antonelli was sent out onto the track. For this violation, the team was fined €7,500.
Alpine F1 Team received a smaller fine of €5,000 for a similar reason releasing a car in an unsafe condition. During qualifying, Pierre Gasly exited the pit lane with an “unsecured component of the left-front wheel assembly,” which detached and rolled along the pit lane. The Alpine team acknowledged the mistake.
