George Russell Set to Start US GP From Pit Lane After Parc Ferme Rule Violation

The United States GP weekend keeps getting from bad to worse for George Russell, who after crashing in qualifying on Saturday, will now have to start the race from the pit lane.

Following his teammate Lewis Hamilton’s Q1 exit, Russell managed to get into Q3, where an impact with the barriers brought out the red flag. He was P6, and that’s where he thought he would start his 2024 COTA (Circuit of the Americas) adventure. Unfortunately for him, his team had to change parts of his car that didn’t comply with the FIA’s parc ferme regulations.

Pit lane start for George Russell incoming due to Mercedes needing to work on his car when cars were meant to be sealed under parc fermé (due to the damage from his qualifying crash)

Had to change the spec too. Had been P6 originally #F1 #USGP

— Chris Medland (@ChrisMedlandF1) October 20, 2024

Mercedes reportedly brought an upgraded floor to Austin, which Russell damaged during his qualifying crash. They did not have spare parts for the same either, which meant that the Silver Arrows had to revert to the W15 spec from Singapore last month.

#USGP | George Russell says they don’t have enough spares to have the car fully back on the upgraded parts.

“Lewis has already kindly offered me his [upgraded parts] but we are not gonna do that.” pic.twitter.com/ayvWyYKihf

— Deni (@fiagirly) October 20, 2024

According to the FIA’s rules, all cars have to be ‘covered up’ after a maximum of two hours following a qualifying session. This means that no work can be done on them, but Mercedes was forced to because of Russell’s crash.

According to Sky Sports, sources from Mercedes said, “Following George’s accident in qualifying, we had to work on the car overnight during the cars covered period. He will therefore start from the pit lane today.” 

For the Brackley-based outfit, this would be a disaster. Hamilton is already set to start from P18 [which will be P17 after Russell’s pit lane start] — his worst-ever starting position — at COTA. And with Russell lining up from the pit lane, there won’t be a lot of hope left for a big weekend at the Mercedes garage.