Martin Brundle believes that George Russell’s most recent defeat to Kimi Antonelli at the Formula 1 Italian GP will ‘leave a mark’ on the British competitor.
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Russell started from second position on the grid while the Italian lined up only 19th due to a penalty. It so happened that throughout the race, he climbed the field and managed to secure victory in front of the home crowd, increasing the championship lead to 66 points.
“Russell was leading on hard tires and was not called into the pits. Right behind him, his teammate Antonelli and his rival [Max] Verstappen stopped in the pits to change their used medium tires. In post-race interviews, Russell said he thought both cars would stay on track,” Brundle wrote in his column on Sky Sports.
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“In the team press release, he is quoted quite diplomatically, stating that the team split strategies because it was not clear whether the track advantage, ahead of all the traffic, would be the best option, or if the ideal would be to put on new tires. My guess is that he feels frustrated with how the situation unfolded,” he continued.
“Antonelli set out to recover the 15 seconds lost, managing to overtake drivers like Norris and Hamilton, and once again delivered an impressive performance. Verstappen got involved in a battle with the two McLarens, including the combative Piastri, effectively turning the race into a duel between the two silver car teams. The fight was open,” he added.
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