Former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya was "surprised" by George Russell's penalty at the United States Grand Prix, claiming the Mercedes driver did not gain an advantage from the incident.
Russell was handed a five-second penalty for leaving the track at Turn 12 and rejoining ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri on the opening lap at the Circuit of the Americas. He went on to finish eighth, while his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli won the race.
Speaking on F1 TV's post-race show in Austin, Montoya argued that Russell's move did not result in an advantage.
"I’m surprised about the penalty for George, because he didn’t really gain an advantage," Montoya explained. "If he had gained an advantage, he would have been next to Hadjar.
"He wouldn’t have had a McLaren next to him. So I was kind of surprised with that. But you’ve got to leave it to the FIA. They have their point of view."
Heading into the next round, Russell sits second in the championship but is under threat from Lewis Hamilton, who is just one point behind him in third, Max Verstappen in fourth and Charles Leclerc in fifth.
Why was George Russell penalised during the 2026 United States Grand Prix?
The stewards handed Russell a five-second penalty for leaving the track and "gaining a lasting advantage".
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Chris Graythen / Getty Images
"The stewards reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, and in-car video evidence, plus submissions from the teams of Cars 63 and 81 via the FIA Evidence Channel," the official statement from the FIA read.
"The driver of Car 63 was defending position from Car 81, into Turn 12 and left the track, then proceeded to rejoin in front of Car 81, prior to Turn 13. He retained that position. Accordingly, he is determined by the stewards to have left the track, rejoined it and gained a lasting advantage.
"The normal penalty for this is a 10-second penalty, however the stewards considered that the driver of Car 63 had previously been pressuring Car 6 and that put Car 81 into an attacking position (and therefore Car 63 into a defending position). Further, this was a first-lap incident and in our determination, the penalty should be mitigated to 5 seconds."