04/05/2019
NEWS STORY
The promoter of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has confirmed that Williams will be "reimbursed in full" following the incident in opening practice for last week's Grand Prix that saw a loose manhole cover wreck the rear of George Russell's FW42.
"Obviously this is our fault, we did admit it," Arif Rahimov, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix promoter told Motorsport.com "It's something that we as a circuit shouldn't have allowed. We have checked our insurance policy and it is fully covered.
"Our legal department is talking to Williams' legal department," he confirmed, "and they will be reimbursed in full. Obviously there are no hard feelings, as we both understand that it was never meant to be and it was definitely not on purpose."
The move follows a similar incident in 2017, when Haas driver crashed after hitting a loose manhole cover. However, with the American team receiving its compensation over a year later, Rahimov has said that this time around the matter will be resolved sooner.
"We told the insurance company that we need to make sure this happens as soon as possible, not in a year, because they need this money so they can use it this season," he said. "We will push the insurance company to expedite the claim and pay Williams as soon as possible."
It's estimated that the damage to Russell's car is in the region of £500,000.