Mercedes has made a “special delivery” to Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso at the team’s Silverstone headquarters.
A lot of banter took place between Russell and Alonso following the podium exchange during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix which was held in Jeddah last Sunday.
Alonso had crossed the final line in third position and felt that he had won his second podium in a remarkable start to the season for Aston Martin.
However, his joy was cut short after he was informed of a penalty being applied to him which would set him back to fourth position.
It automatically promoted George Russell to the podium, but only temporarily as the FIA reinstated Alonso to third spot.
The decision was reversed following a successful appeal by Aston Martin, who cited examples of other drivers escaping this penalty despite committing the same mistake.
Russell posted a tweet after the confusion.
“P4 it is then! Correct decision in the end but a shame for all the fans and everyone involved that we had all that confusion. Still a strong weekend. Let’s keep it going.”
Special delivery, @AstonMartinF1. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/3uI3HlsMtq
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 22, 2023
Alonso was humble and showed his maturity in the manner he celebrated, claiming that it was an unfortunate mess for Russell to get involved in.
However, Mercedes wanted to put the entire episode behind it and chose to end the matter with a hilarious 40-second video.
“Just finished polishing this off. Can you drop it off for me,” Russell asks in the video.
After this, the trophy is placed in the front passenger seat of a Mercedes car, with a seatbelt for extra security!
The driver types Aston Martin in the navigation before heading off to the team’s headquarters.
The final scene shows him walk out of his car with the award and places it on a vacant Aston Martin trophy shelf.
Banter at its best if you ask us!
Read more: Max Verstappen tough upbringing started after he publicly upstaged dad Jos as a 5-year-old in racing event