Russell receives reprimand for his incident in qualifying

Mercedes driver George Russell was handed a reprimand by the stewards for “entering the fast lane without a suitable gap” during the qualifying session for the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver was issued a warning after speaking to the stewards about the incident, which took place at the beginning of Q3 in the pitlane.

The British driver was released from his garage while several rivals were approaching the section of the pit lane that sits in front of Mercedes' facility.

Russell was forced to stop in order to avoid any contacts with his rivals, but he accidentally slipped the clutch which saw his W16 jump forward.

In their statement, the stewards noted: "The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 63 (George Russell), team representative and reviewed video and in-car video evidence."

"Car 63 tried to enter the fast lane after exiting its garage when other cars were approaching in the fast lane and therefore had to stop in an angle preventing the driver from seeing the other cars approaching in the fast lane.

"The driver tried to radio the team but in doing so accidentally slipped the clutch, causing the car to jump forward. The team representative admitted the team could have done a better job in managing the situation."