George Russell was a good sport after teammate Kimi Antonelli snatched a historic victory at the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.
Starting from second on the grid, Russell was, on paper, the clear favourite at Mercedes for the top step of the podium, particularly with Antonelli down in P19.
However, armed with a fresh Mercedes power unit, the Italian sliced through the field to catch his teammate at the front on lap 15.
The duo then went wheel-to-wheel for several laps before a Virtual Safety Car flipped the race on its head.
A decisive VSC at Monza
When Lance Stroll pulled off at Turn 2 to retire, Race Control deployed the VSC on Lap 29. Antonelli dived into the pits to trade his ageing medium tyres for a fresh set, while race leader Russell stayed out.
“To be honest, I thought we were both going to stay out,” admitted Russell. “I was surprised to see him pitting.”
With Max Verstappen still pressuring both Mercedes, the German outfit had to gamble. Splitting strategies ultimately worked to the team’s benefit, maximising their chances of securing the victory by covering all scenarios against Verstappen. While Russell was ahead on track, the Briton had no fresh mediums remaining, whereas Antonelli still had a set available.
“In the end, it was a roll of the dice both ways,” he recognized. In the moment, the team wouldn’t have known which strategy was better.”
Mercedes splits strategy
Russell handled the outcome graciously. Left out on track on an older, harder compound, he was defenceless against his teammate and current championship leader, who quickly closed the gap to take the final lead four laps before the end of the race.
“It made sense to split the cars, but in the end, Kimi had great pace and there we are,” Russell added. I’ll take it. It’s been more positive than it was pre-summer break, and that’s what I needed to try to achieve, but of course I would have loved to have been P1 today.”
It remains a tough pill to swallow, contrasting sharply with the celebrations on the other side of the garage. While Russell retains second place in the Drivers’ Championship, he now trails Antonelli by 66 points, up from 59 before the weekend, with ten rounds remaining in the 2026 season.
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