26/05/2025 09:50
Alex Albon has applauded George Russell for a move during the Monaco Grand Prix he felt was "obvious" and that forced the FIA stewards to hand out a severe punishment. Mercedes driver Russell grew increasingly frustrated behind Williams rival Albon, who drove deliberately slowly to allow team-mate Carlos Sainz ahead of him to bridge a gap that would ensure he would not be undercut during a pit-stop phase. Russell's frustration eventually boiled over as he 'overtook' Russell by cutting across the Nouvelle Chicane. That allowed Russell to start pulling away, seemingly in the hope he would be given a mandatory 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage, with his pace in clear air offsetting the potential punishment. The stewards, however, took a dim view of Russell's actions, handing him a drive-through penalty. Asked if the penalty was fair, speaking to media, including RacingNews365 , Albon said: "Yeah, because if that doesn't happen, you're going to see chaos. "It was good that they made it harsh because it would open huge loopholes in the future if we started not to punish it, so I think it was correct." As to whether he was amazed by the gall shown by Russell to attempt such a manoeuvre, Albon said: "George is cheeky. When you're in the car with him on the road, he does some cheeky moves, and he did it on the racetrack as well. "I knew exactly what he was doing, and it was a bit too obvious to get away with. But I applaud the effort. He had to do something to get points. He did make us worry for a couple of laps before the drive-through came through." Albon drove 'erratically' Explaining their decision behind the drive-through penalty, the stewards said the drivers had been warned a move such as Russell's would be treated severely. A stewards' statement read: "It was clear from the radio message where he said that he would 'take the penalty' that the overtake was done deliberately as he felt that he was being held up by car 23 [Albon] driving erratically. "Anticipating that situations such as this might happen at this Monaco Grand Prix, all the teams were informed before the race by the race director (at the stewards' request) that the stewards would look carefully at a deliberate leaving of the track at Turn 10 to over a car or a train of slow cars. "That communication also made it clear that the guideline penalty of 10 seconds may be insufficient for this deliberate infringement and that the penalty applied may be a greater penalty than 10 seconds. "We therefore considered that car 63's deliberate infringement warranted a drive-through penalty and we so imposed."
