Mercedes explain decision to withdraw appeal to overturn George Russell's Monaco penalties

Russell was hit with a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane, with another similar penalty added to the Briton's record after pitting and failing to serve the first penalty.

That meant Russell dropped out of the points amid confusion over the course of the Monaco Grand Prix since numerous pit lane speeding penalties were dished out to several drivers.

While Alpine managed to overturn Gasly's penalty, Mercedes tried to do the same, while Red Bull Racing and McLaren are appealing the stewards' new decision, which affected their drivers Isack Hadjar and Oscar Piastri, respectively.

However, the FIA revealed today that Mercedes have withdrawn their request and soon after issued a statement explaining their decision.

Mercedes said: "We can confirm that we have withdrawn our Right of Review submission relating to the penalties received and served by George Russell during the Monaco Grand Prix.

"Following the decision to rescind Pierre Gasly’s time penalty, it was important for us to explore all available options to address the impact of George’s pitlane speeding penalty on his race result.

"We had a limited time window in which to apply for the Right of Review during the race weekend in Barcelona and did so in order to reserve our position in this regard.

"Our subsequent collaborative discussion with FIA and Formula One has shown their determination to review the unique circumstances arising from the Monaco Grand Prix and to proactively address the factors that caused them.

"In the face of this clear determination, we have concluded that further pursuit of our Right of Review application will not serve our team or the sport, and thus we have withdrawn our submission," the Mercedes statement concluded. (Reporting by Agnes Carlier)