George Russell teases new penalty idea to tackle F1 off-track overtaking

George Russell believes time penalties are not harsh enough for drivers gaining positions by passing another off the track, and instead, they should receive a “position penalty”.

This year’s championship has seen several drivers make off-track passes and if they’re quick enough to give the position back to their rival, no harm no foul is the stewards’ attitude.

However, if they don’t, there’s a five-second time penalty coming their way.

Should F1 swap five-second penalties for position penalties?

Russell was the most recent driver to receive such a penalty as he overtook Oscar Piastri off the track during the Sprint at the United States Grand Prix.

That meant although he crossed the line in seventh place, he lost that position to Pierre Gasly.

But with Piastri down in 10th place, it could be argued that Russell would’ve been worse off had he not overtaken the McLaren driver and taken the five-second hit.

He accepts that maybe the time penalties aren’t the right way to go.

“I think time penalties are so race dependent,” he said as per Motorsport.com. “We’ve spoken about potentially a position penalty, which is more penalising.”

The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association director believes putting a deterrent on the side of the track, such as gravel, would be one way to avoid the issue.

“If there’s gravel there, if someone pushes you wide, you’re going to end up in the gravel,” he said. “So you’re not really planning to go there.

“Whereas I was always intending to go around the outside, hoping that it would leave me a bit of space.

“And if it didn’t, it would just push me wide onto a bit of tarmac. And you sort of worry about the consequences after. I don’t enjoy racing like that.

“And something does need to change. It’s only probably three circuits in the whole season where it’s like that.”

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The Mercedes driver believes the issue comes down to individual tracks with some allowing for more audacious moves than others.

And that, he reckons, is for the FIA to stop.

“At the end of the day, we’re all racing to the same rules,” he continued.

“And naturally, if you’re racing in Monaco, you can’t go beyond the limit, because you’ll end up in the wall. When you race in Japan, you can’t go over the limit, because you’ll end up in the gravel.

“Whereas here your only consequence is running off onto a bit of tarmac. Monza example, coming out of pits, I went over the limit, knowing that I’ve got a get-out-of-jail-free card.

“And the same in Barcelona. You don’t want to have a get-out-of-jail-free card. So the FIA need to find a way to avoid that.”

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