Beaten by Kimi Antonelli despite starting from second place and a long domination at Monza, George Russell prefers to see the positive: since the restart, the Briton has regained his best form.
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George Russell would obviously have preferred to leave Monza with the victory. After leading a large part of the Italian Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver seemed ideally placed to win before strategy and the incredible comeback of Kimi Antonelli disrupted the scenario.
Starting only 19th after an engine penalty, the young Italian took advantage of a Virtual Safety Car to put on fresher tires. He then caught up with his teammate before definitively taking the lead in the last laps.
A defeat hard to swallow for Russell, but the Briton refuses to focus solely on the result. After a particularly difficult period before the summer break, he feels he has regained a much more encouraging momentum.
Russell understood the Antonelli threat very early
Despite his teammate’s very far back starting position, Russell quickly realized that Antonelli could come back into the fight for victory.
The Italian had a spectacular start to the race, perfectly taking advantage of the first opportunities to climb up the order.
“It was obviously a great race overall from a neutral point of view,” admits Russell.
After only a few laps, Antonelli was already at the gates of the top positions.
“As soon as I saw Kimi climb up to fifth place after only a few laps, I knew he was going to be in the fight with us.”
Russell therefore does not seek to minimize his teammate’s performance.
“His first laps were clearly very impressive.”
Slipstreaming complicates the leader’s task
The Monza circuit also produced a race in which it was particularly difficult for the leader to really pull away.
With its long straights, slipstreaming allowed the pursuers to stay in contact and prepare their attacks.
“It was very difficult to get other cars out of the slipstream zone,” explains Russell.
A situation that sometimes made the first position uncomfortable.
“I think whoever found themselves in the lead then became vulnerable to a new attack.”
According to Russell, this phenomenon explains why several cars stayed grouped in the early phases of the race.
“That’s probably what allowed many cars to stay in the pack during the first laps.”
Antonelli turns the race around thanks to his strategy
Russell nevertheless managed to maintain a very favorable position for most of the Grand Prix.
The situation changed when the Virtual Safety Car gave Mercedes a strategic opportunity.
Antonelli came into the pits to put on fresher tires while Russell stayed out on the hard tires he had fitted earlier.
The choice ended up playing in favor of the young Italian.
In the last laps, Russell had to manage very worn tires while Antonelli had more grip. The championship leader gradually caught up with his teammate before making the decisive overtake.
Antonelli finally won with nearly four seconds advantage.
Russell comes out of a particularly difficult period
Second place could be frustrating given the starting positions of the two Mercedes, but Russell prefers to put this result into a broader context.
Before the summer break, the Briton was going through a difficult period.
His collision with Lewis Hamilton on the first lap at Spa-Francorchamps had caused his retirement, followed by a modest seventh place at the Hungaroring.
Russell had thus scored only six points in the last two rounds before the holidays.
This streak had abruptly interrupted a much more positive period during which he had achieved three consecutive podiums, including a victory in Austria.
“Personally, the period before the summer break was really very difficult in terms of results,” he admits.
Three podiums in three races since the restart
Since the return of Formula 1, the picture is very different.
At Zandvoort, Russell won the sprint before finishing third in the Dutch Grand Prix. He then confirmed at Monza by fighting for the victory until the last laps.
“Since our return after the break, between the sprint and the two races, we have finished in the top 3 every time.”
For Russell, this regained consistency is the main reason for satisfaction.
“I will take away the positive points from this weekend.”
Even if losing a victory after leading for a long time remains frustrating, his current performances are much closer to what he expects from himself.
“Obviously, I would have loved to win today, but my performances are much better than those I had before the break.”
Russell prefers to see the glass half full
The defeat to Antonelli could nevertheless weigh heavily in the championship race.
With this new victory, the Italian has further increased his lead over his teammate. But Russell refuses for now to let the disappointment of Monza erase the progress made since the restart.
His speed has returned, the podiums are coming one after another, and he was again able to fight for the victory throughout an entire Grand Prix.
Russell therefore leaves Monza with mixed feelings. Beaten by an Antonelli who started 19th while he himself led most of the race, the Briton can have serious regrets. But after the difficulties encountered before summer, he prefers to retain a much more important trend in his eyes: since the restart, he is systematically at the front and seems to have finally regained the form he was missing.
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