“19 out of 20” drivers aligned on F1 racing guidelines changes

George Russell has suggested that “19 out of 20” drivers are aligned on what Formula 1’s racing guidelines should be and was pleased to see “unfair” racing manoeuvres penalised at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Russell, who serves as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, has been vocal on the need for the drivers, stewards and the FIA to discuss the current guidelines on racing in the wake of the US Grand Prix’s contentious battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

Speaking in Mexico, where the two championship contenders once again came under scrutiny for their on-track actions – Verstappen penalised 20 seconds for two violations –  Russell said that he expected the stewards to continue to take a hard-line approach.

He revealed that all but one driver was happy for the stewards to change their approach with penalising certain incidents immediately after Austin, rather than wait until 2025 for new guidelines.

“I think the stewards are totally on board with what needs to change,” Russell said.

“Our view is…I think the biggest discussion is they wanted to wait until ’25, so it’s something consistent through this year. I would say 19 out of 20 drivers said, ‘well, if it’s incorrect, make the change today’.

“And I’m glad to see those incidents were punished and I suspect moving forward in Brazil what we saw today [Sunday] and what we saw last week [in Austin] you won’t be able to get away with.

“You presume [it should be easy to change if everyone agrees], but it sometimes seems more difficult than it has to be when things have to get approved and we’ve got to go to a vote app. But as I said, 19 out of 20, we’re all aligned on where it needs to be.”

George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Russell pointed to his own battle with team-mate Lewis Hamilton as “hard and fair” racing, in which the younger Briton held off his team-mate until the start of the 66th lap.

He also had his say on the Verstappen/Norris incident, stating that the Dutchman’s Turn 7 move – in which he carried significant overspeed into the corner and ran Norris off – was something he hadn’t seen since Verstappen’s move on Hamilton at Brazil in 2021.

“It was nice to have the battle and it’s always good when you fight with Lewis because it’s hard and fair,” Russell said.

“At the moment you’re seeing a number of manoeuvres that are just…it’s getting beyond entertaining or beyond sporting, it’s just almost unfair to a point now.

“You can argue the first one was maybe 60-40. The last one, I’ve not seen anything like that since probably Brazil [2021].”