George Russell has raised concerns with the FIA after being hit with a “harsh” penalty during sprint qualifying ahead of the British Grand, warning that too many could discourage drivers from “hard racing” in the future.
Russell was hit with a three-place grid drop for the British Grand Prix, after his collision with Carlos Sainz in sprint qualifying on the Saturday of the race weekend.
On the opening lap of a chaotic 17-lap race to determine the grid, the Williams driver was on the inside of the Ferrari at Brooklands, before the two touched, with Sainz tumbling down the order.
Russell held on to a top 10 finish in the qualifying race but had to start outside of the top ten, thanks to the three-place drop.
It came after F1 race director Michael Masi confirmed the process of applying penalties that stemmed from sprint qualifying would be exactly the same as the main event.
Afterwards, Russell was left frustrated, and said the team had been left perplexed.
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“That’s what we were arguing [the penalty],” he said when asked by Motorsport.com about his first-lap incident. “Rubbin’s racing, as they say, I think it’s always good for the fans and even for the drivers to have close, hard racing.
“So I think when there are so many penalties being dished out, it does change the views of the drivers slightly, how you approach it, and nobody wants to sit there and everybody be cautious, because it won’t be entertaining for anyone.
“It’s only in the last two events where penalties really ramped off. None of us want to see penalties dished out week in, week out.
“So yeah, we need to understand their views on this. It’s always fine margins between whether it’s a penalty or not. And maybe it’s just a coincidence these last two races that there’s been more than normal.”
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Despite it being the opening lap, Sainz was forced to take avoiding action and took a trip across the grass, which saw him fall to the pack of the pack.
The stewards after deemed it to be Russell’s fault, yet the 23-year-old felt the punishment didn’t fit the crime.
“I thought [the penalty] was a little bit harsh,” Russell said. “It was one of those first lap incidents really, lots going on. You know, I had a little small lock-up, there was nothing malicious.
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