George Russell penalty for corner cut raises concern for rival F1 team

George Russell’s penalty for deliberately cutting a corner at the F1 Monaco Grand Prix has left Sauber boss Jonathan Wheatley concerned.

The Mercedes driver purposely cut the Nouvelle chicane during Sunday’s 78-lap race at Monaco in order to get ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon as he bid to reach the points after a technical issue in qualifying left him down in 14th.

Russell was frustrated by Albon’s tactics after the British-born Anglo Thai was ordered by Williams to slow the chasing Mercedes duo behind to ensure teammate Carlos Sainz had a large enough gap to make his second stop and not lose track position.

Russell took matters into his own hands by overtaking Albon off track. When told by Mercedes to hand the place back Russell refused, saying he would instead accept the penalty.

Albon and Sainz went on to score Williams’ fourth consecutive double points finish in ninth and 10th, while Russell came away from Monaco empty-handed as he took 11th.

The implications of Russell’s decision caught the attention of Sauber team principal Wheatley, who has urged F1 to review the matter following a race he described as being “defined by strategy and shaped more by the rules than by pure racing.”

“As a sport we do need to take a closer look at George’s [Russell] penalty and consider what can be learned,” Wheatley said.

“Especially in races so heavily influenced by mandatory tyre usage rules like this one.”

Albon buys Russell dinner

Albon paid for a dinner date with Russell on Sunday evening as a peace offering following their heated on-track clash.

"I'm having dinner with him tonight, so he would definitely get the bill,” Russell proclaimed after Sunday’s grand prix.

Albon revealed in a post on social media that he had indeed footed the bill for their dinner as they put the incident behind them.

Both Williams drivers expressed their remorse about the controversial tactics, while team principal James Vowles sent a text to Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff apologising.

"We knew it was a possibility. We knew the strategy could happen. I think we were talking about it on Thursday,” Albon explained.

"We didn't want it to happen, and I think on our side, it wasn't how we were going to go racing. Once RB started it, it basically it put us in a position where we had to do it as well.

"It bunched the field up so tightly, the only way to get out of that situation was to basically repeat what they did. Not pretty and and frustrating, but in the end it's a team sport and we maximised three points for the team.”