The Colombian understands the all-in on Antonelli
“The right thing to do was to tell Antonelli to stay second, but if you tell Kimi to stay second in Italy, you never leave that paddock”. Juan Pablo Montoya summed up the Mercedes strategic management of the two drivers during the Italian GP like this.
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“Kimi Antonelli is doing such an extraordinary job that he is putting Mercedes in a really difficult situation – added Montoya reached by BetBrothers – how can you tell Kimi, who climbed up from the back of the group starting from 19th position, that he is not allowed to win the race? You can’t. Toto Wolff knew very well that the whole circuit was cheering for Antonelli“.
Montoya wonders why Russell stayed on track with worn hard tires while Antonelli was called to the pits to put on fresh tires at the moment the Virtual Safety Car regime came into effect: “Why wasn’t George stopped? This is a question for me. If you knew stopping him would be faster, why wasn’t George given another stop? I don’t know why the driver leading the race wasn’t given priority”.
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Russell is now 66 points behind Antonelli. In Baku, moreover, Russell will have to start from the back of the starting grid because he will introduce a new power unit. The title is in Antonelli’s hands.
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