Mercedes driver George Russell slammed for his ‘unacceptable’ incident at the Dutch Grand Prix

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Mercedes driver George Russell secured his 12th top-five finish of the 2025 F1 season in the Dutch Grand Prix, after finishing in fourth in round 15 at Zandvoort last Sunday.

The 27-year-old also took his run of point-scoring results to seven Grands Prix after finishing Sunday’s race just 2.421 seconds behind the podium spots. Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar scored his debut F1 podium in the Dutch GP after fending off Russell after the late safety car.

Mercedes have seen Russell get points in every Grand Prix since the 2025 F1 season visited Monaco in May, when the Briton secured just P11 after his engine switched off in qualifying. Russell’s only other finishes outside the top five to date came in Imola (P7) and Britain (P10).

Russell even has 184 of Mercedes’ 248 points this term, after Andrea Kimi Antonelli crashed into Charles Leclerc during the Dutch GP and took a 10-second time penalty. The Italian also drew a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, which demoted him from P6 to P16.

George Russell slammed for his Dutch GP practice near-miss with Fernando Alonso

Leclerc’s downfall, plus Lewis Hamilton crashing in the Dutch GP, ensured Mercedes still left Zandvoort having closed on Ferrari in the F1 constructors’ championship thanks to Russell’s P4. The Silver Arrows are 12 points shy of the Scuderia in P2 ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.

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That is also despite Russell suffering damage from his collision with Leclerc in the Dutch GP, which cost the Mercedes man around one second per lap. Leclerc aggressively overtook his rival at Turn 12 on Lap 32 of 72, as he straddled the inside kerb to get by on Russell’s inside.

Yet Russell’s Dutch GP weekend was not perfect, and Marc Surer has hit out at the four-time Grand Prix winner for his near-miss with Aston Martin rival Fernando Alonso during practice at Zandvoort. The Briton and Spaniard almost came to blows in the pit entrance during FP3.

“Finishing P4 with the damaged car was strong,” Surer has told Motorsport-Total. “But the manoeuvre in practice when entering the pits with Alonso is unacceptable.”

What was George Russell and Mercedes’ penalty for his near-miss with Fernando Alonso?

Russell and Alonso narrowly avoided a crash in practice for the Dutch GP on Saturday, when the Aston Martin racer grazed the wall to avoid a bigger incident. Mercedes had told Russell to pit, but he only noticed that Alonso was approaching at a faster rate at the final moment.

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Alonso was on a flying lap, but took to Russell’s right-hand side out of the final corner as the Briton was slow on the racing line. Yet the latter’s move to pit squeezed Alonso, who Russell only realised when he took one last glance into his mirror before committing to the pit lane.

Alonso was straight on his radio, noting: “They [Russell] don’t look in their mirrors.” The FIA also investigated the incident and fined Mercedes €7,500 (£6.5k) for a breach of Article 37.5 of F1’s sporting regulations. The FIA warned Russell as he was not told that Alonso was near.