Russell calls Austin penalty ‘a little ridiculous’, but says pace worried him more

George Russell called his five-second penalty at the United States Grand Prix a little ridiculous, but said it was the least of his worries after a poor weekend. He finished eighth, 54 seconds behind winning Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli.

Russell had started sixth and was battling Oscar Piastri on the opening lap when he went off at Turn 12, returning ahead of the McLaren. The stewards ruled he had gained a lasting advantage and imposed a five-second penalty, which he served at his pit stop.

The normal penalty for the offence is 10 seconds. The stewards cited two mitigating circumstances: it happened on the opening lap, when some chaos was expected, and Piastri had been forced into an attacking position after Russell attacked Isack Hadjar and then had to defend.

Russell’s greater concern was pace. He said his first stint was poor, but that he matched Antonelli for six laps after emerging from the pits. He then found himself behind Piastri and could not pass him. Russell summed up his race as “six good laps and 50 bad ones” and said he wanted to understand why his first-stint pace had been so poor.