George Russell did not expect to see Mercedes pit Kimi Antonelli under the Virtual Safety Car at Monza. A strategic choice that ultimately allowed the Italian to come back and beat him for the victory.
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George Russell thought he had all the cards in hand to win the Italian Grand Prix. Long established in the lead at Monza, the Briton nevertheless saw victory slip away in the final laps against his own teammate Kimi Antonelli.
One of the turning points of the race occurred during the deployment of the Virtual Safety Car. Mercedes then chose to split the strategies of its two drivers: Antonelli came into the pits to put on new tires, while Russell stayed on track with the hard tires fitted during the red flag interruption.
A choice that surprised Russell at the time and ultimately proved decisive.
Russell thought Antonelli would stay on track
The situation seemed favorable to the Briton. Russell had taken the lead of the race in the early laps and hoped to use Monza to reduce his championship deficit to Antonelli, who was only 19th on the grid.
But the young Italian made a spectacular comeback, greatly facilitated by the red flag caused by the huge accident of Charles Leclerc.
Antonelli quickly found himself at the front and the two Mercedes even exchanged positions several times in a particularly intense battle.
When the Virtual Safety Car was triggered later in the race, Russell expected Mercedes to keep both cars on track.
“To be honest, I thought we were both going to stay out,” he explains. “I was surprised to see him come into the pits.”
Mercedes chooses to split its strategies
The German team ultimately preferred not to put all its eggs in one basket.
Antonelli took advantage of the virtual neutralization to make a low-cost stop and restart with fresher tires. Russell kept his position on track but now had to try to go to the end with his hard tires.
For the Briton, neither option was then a guarantee of victory.
“In the end, it was a gamble in both cases. At that moment, the team couldn’t know which strategy would be best.”
Russell therefore understands the logic followed by Mercedes.
“It made sense to split the strategies of the two cars.”
However, this decision would place the two drivers in radically different situations for the final laps.
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New tires make the difference
Russell had the advantage of track position, but his tires were aging quickly. Antonelli, on the other hand, could exploit his fresher tires to gradually increase his pace.
The gap between the two drivers then narrowed.
In the final laps, Mercedes even warned Russell about the condition of his tires, which had already done more than 40 laps. The Briton now had to manage his tires while trying to resist his teammate’s comeback.
Antonelli eventually got back into his attack zone.
A first attempt almost cost him dearly when he went into the gravel at the first chicane. The Italian quickly caught up with Russell before making the decisive attack on the 50th of 53 laps.
This time, the championship leader definitively took first place.
“Kimi had an excellent pace”
Russell acknowledges that strategy alone does not explain his defeat. Antonelli also had a particularly impressive pace.
“In the end, Kimi had an excellent pace, and that’s where we are.”
The Briton crossed the finish line 3.8 seconds behind his teammate.
A result that is inevitably frustrating since a victory would have allowed him to regain precious points on Antonelli in the championship fight. Instead, the opposite happened, with the Italian now extending his lead to 66 points.
Russell still takes the positive
Despite this missed opportunity, Russell does not want to dramatize his second place.
The Briton believes his performances have improved compared to the period before the summer break, which was precisely one of his main goals for this second half of the season.
“I take this result. It’s more positive than what we had before the summer break and that’s what I had to manage to achieve.”
Frustration remains, however.
“Obviously, I would have loved to finish first today.”
And it’s hard not to think back to the choice made under the Virtual Safety Car. By keeping Russell on track and pitting Antonelli, Mercedes created two different scenarios to maximize its chances of victory.
A winning bet for Antonelli
This time, it was Antonelli’s strategy that proved most effective.
His fresher tires allowed him to make up for the time lost during his stop, catch up with Russell, and then exploit the strong degradation of his teammate’s tires in the final laps.
The result is spectacular: after starting 19th, Antonelli wins his home Grand Prix and further strengthens his position as championship leader.
Russell can hardly blame Mercedes for splitting the strategies. But his surprise when seeing his teammate come into the pits shows that this choice was absolutely not considered the obvious option.
Mercedes therefore played on two fronts at Monza. Russell had track position, Antonelli the freshest tires. In the final laps, it was ultimately the Italian’s tires and his impressive pace that tipped the balance and turned Mercedes’ strategic gamble into a historic victory.
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