Copyright Athlon Sports
From Liam Lawson’s near-miss to Lewis Hamilton’s 10-second penalty, the 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix had its fair share of controversies. However, the incident involving Charles Leclerc became the focal point of a recent critique from a Formula 1 analyst, highlighting an issue that several drivers have already voiced concerns about. Approaching Turn 1 after lights out, Hamilton appeared to be marginally ahead of Leclerc. On the turn, the Monegasque driver chose to go wide, beyond the white line, while the British driver fairly gained the second position. After rejoining the race ahead of everyone, Leclerc let the race leader, Lando Norris, pass, but not his teammate. The incident has been the talk of the town since the Mexico GP weekend, and Jolyon Palmer made his opinions on the matter crystal clear. What Did Jolyon Palmer Say? Ex-F1 driver and pundit for F1TV since retirement, Jolyon Palmer voiced his opinion against the FIA stewards over the Turn 1 fiasco. In his analysis, uploaded on the Formula 1 YouTube channel, Palmer opined, “It should be a penalty. It should be a slam dunk.” While thoroughly analyzing the incident, he also pointed out similar moves by Leclerc in past races, stating, “He’s done it before at the first corner and gets away with it.” “I can only assume the [FIA] stewards saw five cars go through. Absolute melee. You’ve even got Franco Colapinto at the back of the field having a spin. You’ve got contact,” he added. “But the reality is here, Charles Leclerc overtook Lewis Hamilton off the track, and he should have had a penalty for it,” the F1TV analyst concluded on the incident. George Russell and Fernando Alonso Put the FIA Under Scrutiny Notably, multiple drivers, besides Leclerc, chose to go wide and rejoin the race, gaining positions. Consequently, George Russell and Fernando Alonso also voiced similar opinions against the FIA after the Turn 1 melee. Expressing frustration over the past incidents, Alonso said, “It’s the second time in a row the first lap in the first corner, the FIA is looking the other way. So, lesson learned,” in his post-race interview with F1. Similarly, Russell stated, “You know, we’ve seen it almost every year we’ve been here. I think it was Carlos [Sainz] last year, [Charles Leclerc] the year before, [Lewis Hamilton] 10 years ago. It’s like a lawnmower racing.” “Something needs to change there. Because, as I said, if you can just send it down the outside, you can either make it stick, or you just cut the grass, and you return [to] the position you were in before. That’s not really how it should be,” the Mercedes driver added in his interview with Sky Sports F1. F1 Officials Punish Lewis Hamilton Not everyone got away. Hamilton received a 10-second penalty; however, it was for an incident unrelated to the Turn 1 fiasco. The Ferrari driver moved ahead of Max Verstappen following a wheel-to-wheel battle in which Hamilton locked up, cut across Turn 4, and rejoined the track in front of the Red Bull driver, a move the stewards ruled gave him an unfair advantage. Later, Hamilton described the penalty as “kind of nuts.” Liam Lawson’s Near-Miss at Mexico GP Rookie Liam Lawson narrowly escaped disaster when two marshals suddenly sprinted across the active track moments after he exited the pit lane. “I could have f-king killed them,” Lawson shouted over the team radio following the incident. Calling it “unacceptable,” he later expressed his frustration to the media. “We are still investigating what occurred after that point,” the FIA said while addressing the incident. However, the officials’ response did not satisfy the F1 world. In the same F1TV episode, Palmer also voiced his opinion on the matter. “You’ve got debris on the circuit. Marshall’s needed to retrieve it, which was another sketchy condition that we had early on in the race,” the F1 analyst said. As the debate over FIA’s consistency continues, the Mexico GP once again highlighted the blurred lines in enforcing track limits. With title battles tightening, every steward call now carries greater weight heading into the season’s final rounds.
