Christian Horner expressed his surprise at George Russell avoiding a penalty for his off-track moment at the start of the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix. Mercedes driver Russell managed to claim a first podium finish of the season from P12 on the grid after a quick start and a strong race strategy. Starting behind Red Bull's Sergio Perez, Russell jumped ahead of the Mexican before the first corner, but had an off-track moment into Turn 2. Running side-by-side with a Haas and a McLaren, the Briton elected to cut Turn 2 to avoid contact. This was looked at by the stewards, but no penalty was handed out. With Perez finishing in P4 behind Russell, any time penalty for the Mercedes driver would have promoted Perez to the podium. When asked about Perez's recovery drive, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner was quick to highlight the lack of penalty for Russell. “He lost out in the early laps. He didn’t have a great start. George managed to get away with running off track, not getting a penalty from that," Horner told Sky Sports F1 . “I think that was the difference at the end of the day. Checo, his race was getting stronger and stronger. That last stint in particular he was coming back very strong. Just not enough laps to fight for that podium.”
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