Lewis Hamilton was left fuming after he was penalised and Max Verstappen escaped punishment following a heated battle between the pair at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
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There was chaos from the jump in Monday morning’s race, with Verstappen running wide at Turn 1 and while he gave Hamilton back his place, the Red Bull driver settled in fourth much to the frustration of Hamilton’s former teammate George Russell.
“Verstappen just cut the corner, braked late and cut the grass. At least give the position back,” Russell, who qualified fourth for Monday’s race, said over team radio.
“I mean, it’s ridiculous. The guy can just cut the grass and keep position. No penalty, no nothing.”
Russell continues to fume post race | 03:02
While Verstappen did right by Hamilton on that occasion, the pair came together on Lap 6 as Verstappen went for it at Turn 1 and then later had another go, resulting in both drivers going wide.
In the end, it was Hamilton who came under investigation from the stewards for failing to follow the race director’s instructions when he went across the grass instead of taking the escape road and the Ferrari driver was later hit with a 10-second penalty.
“That’s bulls***. The grip is so small there, the grip there is so low,” a furious Hamilton said over team radio.
“These guys are unbelievable,” he later added.
Only adding to Hamilton’s frustrations, there was no further action taken on Verstappen for both the Turn 1 incident at the start of the race and his clash with Hamilton later at Turn 3.
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Max runs wide in Chaotic start to Mexico | 00:41
Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, Russell was still seething by the lack of action and called for change.
“I don’t understand how three drivers can cut the first corner and just continue in the position they entered,” he said.
“It’s like allowing you to risk everything and you just have a get-out-of-jail-free card if you get it wrong.
“Obviously when Max and Lewis came together, Lewis got a penalty and rightly so – but Max was off the track and came back on. It was the wrong place and the wrong time for me and I lost three positions.
“Obviously I was pretty frustrated but it all stemmed from lap one.
“Ultimately it’s down to the circuit and there is this get-out-of-jail-free card. If there was gravel then nobody would be there.
“We’ve seen it almost every year we’ve been here. It was Carlos last year and Charles the year before or Lewis 10 years ago. It’s like a lawnmower race.
“Something needs to change there. That’s not really how it should be.”
