The FIA decision that left George Russell “in shock” – and cost Lewis Hamilton

George Russell has admitted he was left in “shock” earlier this year when F1 stewards chose not to take action against several drivers who cut the first corner at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

The first lap of the race in Mexico City was controversial, as Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, and Carlos Sainz all cut across the first corner.

Russell, who had a clear view of the battle ahead, saw Leclerc and Verstappen take to the grass and arguably gain an advantage.

In Leclerc’s case, he was side-by-side with teammate Lewis Hamilton, but crucially, the seven-time world champion was slightly ahead.

Leclerc had enough room to stay on track but opted to cut the track. He briefly took the lead before dropping back behind Lando Norris. 

He didn’t relinquish the place to Hamilton, who would have been ahead had Leclerc taken the corner properly.

Similarly with Verstappen, who locked up and cut across the track. 

Verstappen was already ahead of the Mercedes pair, but Russell felt the Dutchman should have still been penalised.

“It was ridiculous,” he told Ted Kravitz in an interview in Las Vegas. “It felt like, from within the car, I was the only one who saw what was happening.

“I was in shock. Three guys cut the corner, no penalties. Lewis was the one that got hardest done by.

“Charles just cut the corner and just continued in that position. Lewis should have been on the podium there. That’s how it goes sometimes. The stewards do have a very difficult job. Ultimately, that corner is just rubbish.”

Russell’s dramatic Mexico fix

The first sequence of corners has been an issue over the years, particularly on first laps.

Hamilton cut across the track after locking up on Lap 1 but avoided a penalty.

Russell believes the corner needs to change to avoid any further chaos in future years.

“I was very, very surprised to see those drivers get away without penalty. I think when you look at Monza, if you miss the chicane you’ve got to go through the polystyrene blocks and you lose a lot of time,” he explained.

“I think the only solution, unless you were to just gravel that whole section, would be… I personally don’t like that corner at all. I don’t think it’s good for racing.

“Turn two and turn three, there’s only one single racing line, so you can’t battle into turn one and then continue the battle down to turn four as you can at a circuit like Bahrain, as an example, when you can come cut back on somebody and you fight down to turn four.

“There’s no track limits issues, the race start is a hairpin, you will never cut the corner. So we actually briefly spoke about it before the race weekend. I personally think that corner just needs to change entirely.”