FIA make decision on George Russell grid penalty after Charles Leclerc incident

George Russell avoided a grid penalty after almost colliding with Charles Leclerc during Austrian Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday. The Mercedes star was instead handed a warning by the FIA ahead of Sunday's race.

Leclerc headed down the pit lane towards the circuit after leaving the Ferrari garage during qualifying. But as he made his way past the Mercedes garage, Russell appeared a little too eager to ease his car onto the pit lane and almost ended up hitting into the side of the Monegasque star. Leclerc was forced to almost bring his car to a complete halt before Russell hit the breaks to avoid a collision. Moments earlier, Max Verstappen had been forced to swerve out of Russell's way, with the Dutchman heard exclaiming: "Woah, okay." Russell was then heard saying over the team radio: "Matt, I can't f***ing see - can you tell me."

The FIA launched an investigation over the incident after it was noted by the stewards during the qualifying session.

And the governing body opted to officially warn the driver instead of handing him a grid penalty for the race.

"The stewards heard from the driver of car 63 (George Russell), team representative and reviewed video and in-car video evidence," the FIA explained in a statement.

"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."

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Russell secured his first victory of the season at the Canadian Grand Prix last time out. That victory has moved him 62 points behind Drivers' Championship leader Oscar Piastri and 19 points adrift of third-place Verstappen.

The Briton ultimately qualified for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix in fifth place and will be desperate to produce another dazzling performance after being told by former Williams chief Jost Capito that he wasn't easy to work with during his time with the outfit.

"It makes it not easy to work with him because he demands a lot," admitted Capito. "But I love the drivers who demand a lot and really challenge the team and are never happy, because those are the guys that will be world champions in the future."