George Russell believes his 5s time penalty following his clash with Sergio Perez on the opening lap of the Austrian Grand Prix was "harsh".

Getting a good start, Russell was on the inside of Carlos Sainz in Turn 1, the Spaniard running slightly wide in the process.

On the run to Turn 3, Sainz got back ahead of Russell, who now had Sergio Perez alongside. Side-by-side through the corner, the Mercedes and Red Bull continued the run to Turn 4, where Russell had the inside but tagged the Mexican causing him to spin off into the gravel.

Perez made it back to the pits but was subsequently retired due to the damage he had incurred in the clash.

Meanwhile the stewards handed Russell a 5s time penalty for causing a collision, determining that the Mercedes driver was "wholly at fault for the incident".

Perez was passing on the outside, and was at least fully alongside at the entry of the turn and all the way through the manoeuvre, including at the apex of the corner and left sufficient room for Russell, who ultimately struck him.

This was not considered as a "first lap incident" by the stewards as this was a battle between the two cars and was not affected by the pack of cars as can happen during the first lap.

"I've looked at the video and I think it's harsh," said Russell at race end. "You are racing at the start, cars are everywhere. Checo did a bold move going around the outside like that.

"Obviously he'd done it before," the Briton continued, "he did it with Valtteri yesterday and Valtteri had to get right on top of the kerb to avoid him, which is exactly what I tried to do.

"But with Carlos ahead of me there's only so much you can brake and so much you can steer, and ultimately I had nowhere to go. Sorry to him to end his race.

"There was probably more room on the outside for him," he added, "and as I said I was doing everything I could. But as soon as he got to a certain point I knew it was inevitable, because I was already at the limit of my car.

"So, it's risk versus reward and he had this with Lando last year, it was very close with Valtteri yesterday. The move with me today was exactly the same as these other two, so it was one of them."

"I was clearly ahead," insisted the Mexican, "it was up to George to control his car which he clearly couldn't and we ended up making contact.

"There was nothing else I could have done," he continued. "I gave him enough room, I was already very close to the gravel to make sure he had enough room for both of us to make the corner.

"For the standards of George's level, I'm very surprised at that manoeuvre," he admitted, "but anyway, it's very disappointing for me and a very disappointing result for our team because clearly today there were a lot of opportunities."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 12/07/2022 13:09

"@ Defiant...yes, it all comes down to milliseconds but these guys are the creme de la creme...we are told. In another thread I pointed out that Russell would've been fully 'cognizant' that Perez was there as he was well ahead at the apex! No, it's my contention that he was aware and could've lifted fractionlly,enough to miss Perez's right rear. The stewards also seemed to have come to that conclusion anyway. It's the penalty and Pavlo has summed it up very well. I fully agree with what he says the penalty should've been."

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2. Posted by Pavlo, 12/07/2022 11:17

"@Defiant - I totally agree with you that 5s is too light as it's not really a penalty.
I would separately discuss two questions:
1) who is guilty? - here we can argue, it's not 100% clear for me, as George did hit the apex unlike Lewis in Silverstone who was claimed just "predominantly at fault".
2) based on stewards' answer "George is wholly at fault", is the penalty correct? Absolutely no, the penalty is ridiculous.
If driver A is fully guilty in colliding with driver B in a corner where such collision inevitably causes driver B to lose a lot of time to get back to the track, driver A must get at least stop-and-go or even DQF.
Rule of thumb is (not only in sport) - the penalty must be bigger than the benefit gained by breaking the rules, anything else just encourages to break the rules.

With that said, till director announces that F1 changes approach and penalties will be more severe, these 5s are absolutely fair because are inline with other penalties."

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3. Posted by Defiant, 12/07/2022 2:21

"Both drivers braking at the last millisecond desperate to be in front. I think thats called racing.

@kenji, I dont see how George could have backed out anymore at that point, when you're on the limit, you're on the limit.
Checko was trying a risky move which does leave himself in a precarious position, you would think that would lead him to give a little more room by using more on the outside, in an effort to protect himself, particularly as he would be the worst off in any coming together.
As for a harsh penalty, I don't think so George. You where part of an incident that ended another drivers race. I wouldn't say that you where wholly responsible, but I wouldn't call it a 50/50 racing incident either so 5seconds is fair in my irrelevant opinion."

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4. Posted by kenji, 11/07/2022 23:43

"@ Prime...St. George and 'El Dragon'......"

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5. Posted by prime, 11/07/2022 19:29

"true fanboys hitting the negative button lol"

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6. Posted by Superbird70, 11/07/2022 16:22

"I think that the penalty of driving a Mercedes this year is harsh enough."

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7. Posted by kenji, 11/07/2022 13:09

"After many reviews of the official F1 footage I believe that it was totally down to Russell. By the time they arrive at the apex Perez is almost a full car length ahead of Russell when Russell's front left tags Perez' right rear. The tag is the definitive cars position relative to each other. Russell was not in control and should've backed out. The stewards got it right but the penalty was too light. We do see quite a few overtakes around the outside and they don't all end up like this one. "

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8. Posted by Carsten B, 11/07/2022 10:36

"Hmn I agree with George on this one. A bit harsh. Reviewing on-board from both I think that Russell kept well to the right, actually having half a wheel on the green to the right of the red and white curb, while Perez had lots of space on his left.
Racing incident or slightly more on Perez"

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9. Posted by Spindoctor, 11/07/2022 8:43

"I'm a bit confused by this. As I recall Russel was on the inside & Checko was trying to go around the outside. He may have gone ahead, but that doesn't negate his duty to provide room.
In general terms & as explained by commentators throughout, it's up to the guy on the outside to avoid the collision. A driver with Checko's experience should know that Russell would likely understeer a bit & give him room. He didn't. Crash.
"It's up to George to control his car" seems a tad pointless - George was clearly on the limit & there was nothing more to be done. "

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10. Posted by Pavlo, 11/07/2022 8:12

"I think the penalty is fair. I believe George when he says he did all he could, but still "one of the best driver in the world" is capable of pre-calculating how he would get into the situation where he does "everything he can". Apart from very obvious cases, it's impossible to judge the intentions, so we have to judge the fact - Checo was in front and George touched him.
On the other side the driver outside lost the whole race, and it doesn't matter anymore that he was right. This is quite a good motivation already to leave more space.
That said I would give Gasly 10s or more, because unlike George he could have easily avoided this collision."

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11. Posted by Mad Matt, 11/07/2022 7:55

"I'm not sure why this might inspire hate of any kind. In fact I'd go as far as to say that George is right about it being a bit harsh. He went into the corner and the moment he touched the brakes he was committed to a minimum arc, it's not like driving on the road where he could add more braking or turn tighter. On the other hand Sergio could have moved wider as there was space.

I also note that George hasn't called Sergio an idiot or other insult but instead reviewed the video and reacted calmly... agree with him or not his attitude seems reasonable.

It also seems an odd penalty given what was allowed at Silverstone..... we really need more consistency with drivers having the opportunity to ask why a penalty was given so they can adapt to it for the future."

Collision penalty was "harsh", claims Russell

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