Latest news with #NouvelleChicane
Daily Mirror
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
George Russell speaks his mind after getting more severe F1 penalty
The F1 stewards handed George Russell a harsher penalty than usual for his corner cutting at the Monaco Grand Prix as they took a dim view of his radio comments afterwards George Russell said it was "ironic" that he got a better result at the Monaco Grand Prix despite a hefty sanction. The British driver was handed a drive-through penalty during the race which saw him lose around 20 seconds in time. That was for deciding to cut the Nouvelle Chicane in anger, having been stuck behind Alex Albon while the Williams racer was driving intentionally slowly. He was doing so to give team-mate Carlos Sainz a pit window in which he wouldn't lose any places on track, using the narrow Monte Carlo streets to their advantage. Russell cut the chicane to overtake Albon and refused to give the place back when asked to do so by his Mercedes race engineer. He said over the radio he would rather take the penalty, which was not well received by the stewards. In a statement, they confirmed that they had taken that as evidence that he cut the corner intentionally and, instead of a five or 10 second time penalty, that meant they opted for the more severe sanction of a drive-through penalty which cost him around 20 seconds overall. Sign up to our free weekly F1 newsletter, Pit Lane Chronicle, by entering your email address below so that every new edition lands straight in your inbox! But, because Albon was moving so slowly, Russell made up most of that time before he even served the penalty. And, reflecting on it ahead of this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, the Brit lamented that he didn't get the chance to have fun driving around Monaco, mostly because his power unit problem in qualifying left him so far down the order. He said: "I was getting tired of staring at the back of a Williams rear wing for 50 laps, to be honest. It was a bit ironic because I finished higher up the order by doing that move than I would have done if I just stuck behind Alex. I pulled a [gap to cover a] whole pit stop in the space of three laps and then I was free to do my own race. "The weekend was gone so early. We weren't fighting for anything. You get the same points for P11 as you do for P20. I just wanted to enjoy Monaco – I didn't get the chance on Saturday. "It's the most adrenaline you get in a whole season and I didn't have that chance because of what happened. I at least enjoyed the last 25 laps of the race. It's not part of a new, 'George Russell being a rebel cutting the track' – it was just getting tired of seeing Alex driving like a grandma. "It was a deserved penalty. I think that should never be allowed. If I was in the points and if I was racing Alex, I would never have done that. He had already done two pit stops. I hadn't even done one single pit stop. He was only driving so slow to benefit his team-mate. It wasn't to benefit him against me, it was to benefit him against the drivers around him. "So, as I said, I wasn't doing it for a sporting gain. I was just doing it for my own enjoyment because it was a bit rubbish. But the penalty I received, on any other circuit, in any other circumstance, was more than fair." The pair of them buried the hatchet in the hours after the race, with Albon picking up the bill after they had dinner together.
Daily Mirror
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
F1 stewards issue statement as George Russell gets more severe Monaco GP penalty
George Russell was slapped with a drive-through penalty for cutting a chicane to overtake Alex Albon during the Monaco Grand Prix out of frustration at their tactics The stewards have explained why George Russell was slapped with a tougher penalty than usual for his antics during the Monaco Grand Prix. The Brit was given a drive-through penalty during the race after he overtook Alex Albon by cutting the Nouvelle Chicane. The new two-stop pit rules for this race led to a situation where teams were using the narrow track to back up other cars. The idea was to give their team-mates the room to pit without losing a place and it worked beautifully for some teams. Racing Bulls made the most of it to secure sixth and eighth. And Williams also pulled it off to make sure that they too secured a double-points finish, with Albon backing a train of drivers up so that Carlos Sain z could pit without losing ground. That infuriated Russell who lost patience and cut the chicane, accusing Albon of driving "erratically". And when he was told by his Mercedes race engineer Marcus Dudley to give the place back, he refused and said he would rather take the penalty that he knew was coming his way. In the end, he might not be so glad that he did that. The stewards took a dim view of him cutting the chicane deliberately, and then also of his radio message, which led to a five or ten second time penalty becoming a drive-through which lost him around 20 seconds of time in the end. Explaining their decision, the stewards said: "Car 63 [Russell] left the track at Turn 10 and overtook Car 23 [Albon]. He did not give that position back and maintained his track position. "It was clear from the radio message where he said that he would 'take the penalty' that the overtake was done deliberately as he felt that he was being held up by Car 23 driving erratically. "Anticipating that situations such as this might happen at this Monaco Grand Prix, all the teams were informed before the race by the race director (at the stewards' request) that the stewards would look carefully at a deliberate leaving of the track at Turn 10 to overtake a car or a train of slow cars. "That communication also made it clear that the guideline penalty of 10 seconds may be insufficient for this deliberate infringement and that the penalty applied may be a greater penalty than 10 seconds. We therefore considered that Car 63's deliberate infringement warranted a drive through penalty and we so imposed." Speaking live on Sky Sports during the race, Williams team principal James Vowles made it clear that he was unhappy that his team had been forced to use that tactic to preserve their places on track. And both drivers, Albon and Sainz, were also frustrated, the latter labelling it a "manipulation" of the result.
