Mercedes Formula 1 driver George Russell has kept his second-place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix as he was cleared of any wrongdoing for improper DRS usage.
His Mercedes' DRS opened in the closing stages of the Bahrain GP despite the car not being within one second of the car ahead, runaway race leader Oscar Piastri.
Russell explained after the race that the DRS suddenly opened when he pressed the radio button on his steering wheel while battling with brake-by-wire issues and other electronic issues.
He noticed the flap open, immediately closed it and lifted off the throttle, believing he cost himself a couple of tenths, rather than gaining any time from it.
The stewards accepted the improper use was not deliberate and was outside of the driver's and team's control.
"The connection between the automated DRS activation system and the car failed due to issues with a timing loop provided by an external party," the stewards' decision read.
"Therefore the FIA authorised manual activation of the DRS. At the time the driver was experiencing a brake-by-wire issue and other electronic issues.
"He was at that time advised to use an auxiliary button in the cockpit which serves as a back-up radio button but also serves as a manual DRS activation button.
"On the straight between Turns 10 and 11, he tried to radio the team using this button but instead accidentally activated the DRS."
The stewards said the DRS was activated for 37 meters of the approximately 700m straight. That gained him 0.02s but Russell lifted and gave up 0.28s to compensate.
"Accordingly whilst technically a breach occurred the stewards decide that as there was no sporting advantage gained, no penalty is imposed," the stewards concluded.
There is a previous precedent for a podium finisher avoiding punishment for improper DRS usage as Sergio Perez escaped a penalty when he took his Force India to third in F1's 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Perez actually opened the DRS manually twice on that day when there was a fault with the automatic activation notification, but the stewards deemed that he hadn't overtaken anyone during those occasions so let him off.
Russell's third podium of 2025 leaves him fourth in the drivers' championship, 14 points adrift of points leader Lando Norris.
