Second, but not enough
George Russell gave it his all at Monza, but despite perhaps having one of his best races of the season in terms of consistency and pace, it was not enough for the Englishman even starting from the front row alongside his teammate who started from 19th on the grid to reach the top step of the podium. Antonelli won and Russell’s second place at the finish tastes like surrender in the fight for the World Championship. Now, in fact, there is a 66-point gap between the two Mercedes drivers.
Read more Monza GP Analysis | The Antonelli phenomenon sinks Ferrari’s world championship hopes
Interviewed by Sky Sports F1 at the end of the race, Mercedes’ #63 showed sportsmanship, congratulating Antonelli and implying between the lines that he no longer has championship thoughts: “First of all, I want to congratulate Kimi because, just looking at the result, starting where he did and finishing winning was impressive. But when I saw he was already in fifth place after just a few laps, I thought: ‘Ok, he’s in the fight’. The World Championship? To be honest, I’m not even thinking about it anymore. We are where we are. [Kimi] has driven incredibly this season, deserves to be leading the championship and has a very solid advantage – Russell added – I’m not even thinking about a possible comeback in the championship. I’m just thinking about tackling each race and trying to win it, then it will go as it should. I’m not putting pressure on myself in that sense, telling myself I have to do this or that. I just have to try to win more races. But, obviously, he is in the best position and deserves to be where he is”.
Read more Antonelli, the first words after the triumph: “At the restart I thought ‘I have to win this one’”
Unlucky race
It must be acknowledged that Russell was also particularly unlucky in today’s race: Antonelli was indeed helped in his comeback by the initial red flag and a Virtual Safety Car that came out at the perfect moment to allow him to change tires: “The Virtual Safety Car came at a delicate moment – Russell explained further – and I don’t think the team knew what the right strategy was. Considering all this and seeing that Max [Verstappen] was in contention, deciding to adopt different strategies was probably the right decision for the team. In hindsight, of course, it’s easy to say: ‘I should have pitted’. I would have simply liked to fight with Kimi. It was a really nice battle and I felt I was holding my own at that moment, but probably this was another reason why the team wanted us to follow different strategies. I will take the positives from the weekend. Obviously, it’s disappointing not to have won, but this is the situation”.
Read more Hamilton: “I am devastated. The duel with Leclerc? Blocking the positions would have gone better…”
