Confused Damon Hill makes Max Verstappen comparison after George Russell’s US Grand Prix penalty

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All the talk surrounding the result of the United States Grand Prix is going to revolve around Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

Norris ended up being penalised for a late move on Verstappen that saw them both go off the track, but the Brit was deemed to have gained an advantage by taking the position when he wasn’t ahead of his title rival at the apex.

This overshadowed an incredible one-two finish for Ferrari with Charles Leclerc taking his third victory of the season.

Carlos Sainz successfully undercut Verstappen to secure his best finish since winning the Australian Grand Prix.

Mercedes had the worst result of the four front-running teams, with the entire weekend failing to go to plan.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Mercedes AMG F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Lewis Hamilton only scored a handful of points in the Sprint Race before being eliminated from qualifying in Q1 and getting stranded in a gravel trap just five laps into Sunday’s race.

It meant the pressure was on teammate George Russell to score points for Mercedes and while he drove very well from a pit lane start to finish sixth, he didn’t have an easy time doing it.

Damon Hill has commented on social media on a key incident that took place during the race involving Russell and Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas.

It led to the Brit picking up a five-second penalty while another two drivers – initially – got away with a similar incident.

Damon Hill confused by George Russell penalty during the United States Grand Prix

During the opening stages of the race, as Russell made his way through the pack, he was adjudged to have forced Bottas off the road at turn 12 and as a result was handed a five-second penalty.

Hill reacted to the penalty he was given and said: “Hmmm. Penalty for Russell. No penalty for Max on Lando. How so? #f1.”

On the team radio, Wolff complained: “Toto joke with the penalty George.”

The incident Hill was comparing Russell’s penalty to was Verstappen and Norris both going off the track at the beginning of the race heading out of the first corner.

The Dutchman made a position on Norris – despite losing out to Charles Leclerc in the process – and wasn’t penalised, although this is because the stewards are more lenient when it comes to lap one incidents.

READ MORE: Mercedes driver George Russell’s life outside F1 from net worth to height

Commentating on Russell’s penalty for BBC Sport, former mechanic Marc Priestley said: “Russell went down the inside [of Bottas], very similar to the one we all talked about at the beginning of this race.

“Russell almost pushed Bottas out the circuit, it seemed relatively innocuous to me.”

George Russell already upset Charles Leclerc during the US Grand Prix weekend

Mercedes will want to move on from the race in Austin as quickly as possible and have the perfect opportunity to do so next weekend in Mexico City.

The reason Russell had to start from the pit lane was because he had a big crash during qualifying at the same corner where Hamilton’s race came to an end.

His car suffered significant damage and Leclerc was furious with Russell for ruining his final lap.

The Monegasque driver is likely to forgive him after managing to find a way to win Sunday’s race despite starting on the second row.

It’ll give him and Sainz confidence that they can make a late charge to win the Constructors’ Championship.