Jenson Button admits he disagrees with one steward’s decision made during Las Vegas GP

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Jenson Button has suggested that he didn’t think it was fair to give Mercedes driver George Russell a penalty after his collision with Red Bull star Max Verstappen.

Button was speaking on Sky Sports F1 in the aftermath of a thrilling Las Vegas Grand Prix.

No matter how much or how little action there is on the grid, it always seems to end with the same result in 2023.

Max Verstappen started from the front row after Carlos Sainz was harshly penalised for changing some components on his car following damage sustained in FP1.

He led out of the first corner and if you switched off then and saw the final result, you would have assumed it was plain sailing for the Dutchman.

However, Verstappen was penalised for that move, re-overtaken by Charles Leclerc and survived contact with George Russell before negotiating two safety cars to take the chequered flag.

Russell was caught unaware by Verstappen and picked up a penalty after turning into the 26-year-old, but Jenson Button thought the steward’s decision was harsh.

It could have been argued it was a racing incident like the contact between Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri.

Instead, the Mercedes was handed a five-second time penalty that saw him lose three places after crossing the chequered flag.

Button thinks Russell penalty was harsh

Talking about the battle between Ferrari and Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship, Button turned his attention to Abu Dhabi and said: “Which is another circuit with long straights and 90-degree corners, so it’s going to be similar in terms of the Ferrari will be competitive there I think.

“But that was a really weird incident I think because it’s a corner where you don’t expect someone to come up the inside.

“And for George, I don’t know where he’s going to go. I mean he could have gone straight on to get out of the way but it’s a really tricky situation that he found himself in there.

“But Max also was in a position that he felt like he had to go for it so it’s just one of those things.

“I don’t think he deserved a five-second penalty personally.”

Russell was flying through the pack in Las Vegas after picking up his penalty and crossed the line fifth and Button had sympathy with his situation.

He and Lewis Hamilton both suffered from some bad luck and have opened the door for Ferrari to overtake them in the Constructors’ Championship in Abu Dhabi.

Russell has driven better than his eighth place in the Drivers’ Championship suggests.

After such a difficult race in Brazil, he would have been hoping for a change in fortune this weekend.

It’s mad that his only podium of the season came back in Barcelona and he’ll be hoping to have a more positive campaign in 2024.