Why did George Russell receive a 5 second penalty during the Sprint?
George Russell received two penalties from the stewards on Saturday, first during the Sprint Shootout and then during the Sprint race. The Briton believes that his 5 seconds of penalty are fair.
He had already been penalized three grid places for the Sprint start, after having obstructed Charles Leclerc. While he was already fallen from eighth to eleventh place to start the race, George Russell was also penalized during the Sprint on Saturday, on the Circuit of the Americas. What happened?
George Russell left the track at turn 18 and managed to gain a significant advantage during an overtaking maneuver on Oscar Piastri, judges the FIA in a statement. The incident was classified as an infraction, in violation of Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2 c) of the International Sporting Code, as well as Article 33.3 of the FIA Formula 1 Sporting Regulations. The stewards’ decision was therefore to punish George Russell with a 5-second penalty.
The commissioners justified their decision after a thorough examination of the evidence, including videos, timings and on-board images. It was found thatGeorge Russell was attempting to overtake Oscar Piastri on the outside of turn 15. However, in this attempt, George Russell left the track to finish the overtaking, never managing to find himself ahead of Oscar Piastri while staying on the track. Therefore, he did not have the right to claim the trajectory, but he gained a lasting advantage by completing the overtaking off the track.
In the end, George Russell therefore fell from seventh to eighth place, much to the delight of Pierre Gasly.
“The 5 seconds were just right”
“I know that Oscar had the right to push me, I was hoping he wouldn’t do it, but at that moment I committed and I told myself that whatever will happen will happen, and in the end, the 5 seconds were fair,” George Russell told journalists after the Sprint. “It’s a shame I couldn’t overtake Carlos because I think I could’ve taken 5 seconds off Gasly, but in the end, it was a tough day, twice with the commissioners, I hope tomorrow’s day will be cleaner,” he concluded.
This Sunday, the Briton will start from the 5th position for the United States Grand Prix, just ahead of the reigning world champion Max Verstappen.
