George Russell left ‘pretty pissed off’ in ‘lawnmower racing’ dig

George Russell admitted feeling “pretty pissed off” at seeing several drivers cut the opening chicane in Mexico, to go without punishment.

Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen both took to the grass on the opening lap at the start, but later ceded positions to those behind – though Russell felt a lack of punishment against them was incorrect.

George Russell left ‘pretty pissed off’ in ‘lawnmower racing’ quip

Drivers taking to the grass in the opening section in Mexico City is nothing new, with the ever-slowing Turns 1, 2 and 3 providing little room for the drivers on the opening lap in particular.

The stewards opted not to punish those to cross the grass in Sunday’s race, with Leclerc and Verstappen in particular giving their positions up given the opportunity.

Russell took a dim view of such a move, though, highlighting a second time Verstappen went off the circuit several laps later as he felt that should have been penalised.

“I think I just struggle to understand how three guys can just cut the corner and maintain their position,” Russell told PlanetF1.com and others after the race.

“They got it wrong. They braked too late. They made a mistake, but then they can just cut the corner and continue, and there was no punishment for for their mistakes – so I was pretty pissed off with that to start with.

Mexico City GP analysis from PlanetF1.com

👉 Mexican GP conclusions: Big Norris chance, Verstappen illusion, new Hamilton document incoming

👉 Winners and losers from the 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix

“Then where Max came off, went off the track [at] Turn 4, came back on, wrong place wrong time for me. But again, that should have been penalised as well.

“We didn’t have the pace today, but I think if I came around the first corner in P3, we would have finished P3. That’s the story of the season.

“It was Leclerc, I think I’m watching now, just made no attempt to stay on the track. Verstappen obviously just full risk and got it wrong, but continued in his place, and the guys who did the right thing were the ones who came off worse.”

“I think it’s ultimately down to the circuit,” Russell added to Sky F1. “There is this get out of jail free card. If there was gravel, no-one would be there.

“We’ve seen it almost every year we’ve been here. I think it was Carlos [Sainz] last year, Charles [Leclerc] the year before, Lewis [Hamilton] 10 years ago. It’s like lawnmower racing.

“I don’t know, something needs to change there. As I said, if you can just send it down the outside, you can either make it stick, or you just cut the grass and you return in the position you were in before. That’s not really how it should be.”

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock

Read next: What happened to Oscar Piastri? Mexico GP data provides clear answer