Source : @F1
AUSTIN — The FIA stewards have taken no further action over a tense moment between George Russell and Charles Leclerc during second practice for the United States Grand Prix, Formula 1 has confirmed.
The sport’s official X account shared video of the incident on Friday (Oct 23) with the caption: “A feisty moment at high speed in FP2! 😱 No further action was deemed necessary by the stewards after this incident between George Russell and Charles Leclerc”. The post carries the hashtags #F1 and #USGP.
According to the stewards’ decision, the alleged breach concerned Russell’s Mercedes appearing to force Leclerc’s Ferrari off the track at Turn 18 at about 4:12pm local time. Russell had been shown a black and white flag, the warning given for unsporting behaviour, and the matter was then referred for investigation.
The stewards reviewed video, team radio and in-car footage. In their reasoning, Leclerc attempted to pass Russell into Turn 18, Russell moved to the left, and Leclerc left the track before rejoining in front of the Mercedes. Both cars were on preparation laps. The stewards “considered that there was nothing dangerous in the manoeuvre” and took into account that it happened in a free practice session. The decision was issued at 4:50pm local time, before the session ended.
The outcome leaves both drivers free of sanction, and the matter is now closed. No further steps are expected from the stewards. Track limits remained a theme of the session, with several drivers, including Russell, having laps deleted during their qualifying simulations on the soft tyres. For Leclerc, it did not hamper a strong day: he went on to set the fastest time in FP2 with a 1:35.291, 0.042s ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, after also topping FP1.
Russell’s own session was less straightforward. He briefly went quickest early on, but his first push lap on the soft tyres was struck off for track limits, and he then had to abandon another attempt after a big snap through the esses. He ended Friday fifth, 0.744s behind Leclerc.
Leclerc’s own Friday was otherwise strong. He had also led FP1 with a 1:36.052, 0.084s clear of Verstappen, with Norris third, so he finished the day with the top time in both sessions, a double he celebrated in a separate post from the sport’s account. Hamilton, in the other Ferrari, was fourth in FP2, 0.615s off the pace.
The incident adds a little spice to a weekend in which Mercedes team-mates Antonelli and Russell are central to the title story. Antonelli leads the drivers’ standings by 102 points over Russell, and he can be crowned champion in Austin if he wins the race with Russell ninth or lower and Hamilton fifth or lower.
Both Mercedes cars are running the upgraded W17 this weekend, following the team’s Singapore experiment, when Russell reverted to the old specification. Running resumes on Saturday with final practice at 12:30 local time, followed by qualifying at 4pm local time, or 5am on Sunday in Malaysia. The race starts at 3pm on Sunday (Oct 25), 4am on Monday Malaysian time.
The original Formula 1 post can be viewed on X: https://x.com/F1/status/2113762641449795729.
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