Russell: Lack of penalties over corner-cutting was ‘especially unfair for Lewis’

George Russell believes his former team mate Lewis Hamilton was particularly disadvantaged by race control’s inaction over drivers cutting the first corner at the last race.

Both drivers were among those who complained that some of their rivals avoided penalties for cutting across the track between turns one and three on the first lap of the Mexican Grand Prix. Hamilton’s team mate Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen were among those who went off.

During the race Russell and Hamilton asked their teams several times whether any action had been taken against the corner-cutters. Russell said the lack of any penalties was especially unfair on Hamilton, who fell behind Leclerc.

“I was obviously very angry after lap one because I didn’t think what happened was fair at all, for a number of drivers, especially Lewis [for] one,” he told the official Formula 1 channel. “I thought it was extremely unfair what happened in terms of his race.”

While Leclerc finished second, Hamilton fell to eighth place after being involved in an incident with Verstappen. Russell was involved in the same incident and fell behind his team mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli as a result.

That led to a tense situation at Mercedes as Russell lobbied the team for several laps to be allowed past Antonelli. Mercedes eventually agreed, but later admitted they had taken too long to make the decision.

“I was in a position I shouldn’t have been in the first place,” said Russell. “Of course we analyse every single race and you conclude after many races you could have done things better and differently.

“When you’re in that moment the adrenaline from my side, the adrenaline for the team, you’re trying to be fair to both drivers, it’s never straightforward to make a decision in the moment. It’s always easy to say ‘we should have done this’. So the truth is I just need to make sure I don’t find myself in a position where that needs to be a worry.”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and

2025 Mexican Grand Prix

• Russell: Lack of penalties over corner-cutting was ‘especially unfair for Lewis’
• Williams aim to give Albon more “consistent” car after consecutive Q1 exits
• Lawson “not at fault” for marshal incident says FIA following criticism from Mexico’s OMDAI
• Stats: Norris takes F1’s biggest win for two years as Ferrari go win-less for 12 months
• Mexico’s motorsport authority blames Lawson for near-miss with marshals in race

Browse all 2025 Mexican Grand Prix articles