George Russell calls for greater F1 organisation after "step too far" chaos

George Russell, Mercedes, United States GP, 2022 — Photo: © LAT Images

Russell calls for greater F1 organisation after "step too far" chaos

Drivers were mobbed in Mexico

Ewan Gale

Wednesday 9 November 2022 12:22

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Mercedes driver George Russell has called for greater organisation in F1 paddocks after the crowd at the Mexico City Grand Prix went "one step too far".

Drivers were surrounded by security personnel throughout the previous event having been mobbed by fans eager to collect mementoes, autographs and selfies.

AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly revealed crowd issues with his bag being tampered with and members of the public entering the team garages, though Carlos Sainz and home hero Sergio Perez defended the frenzied atmosphere.

“It’s great to see Formula 1’s excitement," said Russell.

“But definitely it needs a bit more respect from the fans within the paddock.

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“We all want to see the excitement but every single driver was getting jumped, pushed, pulled to get selfies, photographs.

“It’s a bit of a strange feeling. It’s almost gone one step too far.”

Paddock issues "pretty obvious for everybody"

The São Paulo Grand Prix returns this weekend with drivers again likely to be under supervision given previous incidents in the Brazilian city, although such issues have historically been from outside the paddock.

Russell is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association and after the chaos of the paddock last time out, he was asked whether the situation would be taken up as a matter of urgency to prevent future repeats.

“We’ve already spoken about it," he replied.

“It is pretty obvious for everybody and I’m sure Formula 1 has recognised it.

“I’m happy for the paddock to be so busy but I just think it needs to be a bit more organised in an orderly fashion.”