George Russell admitted to being surprised by Mercedes’ decision to call Kimi Antonelli to the pits during the Virtual Safety Car period at the Italian Grand Prix in Formula 1. This decision ended up being decisive for the Italian to take the lead and win the race.
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Russell was leading at the start of the race, while his teammate, who had started only in 19th position, quickly gained positions after the interruption caused by Charles Leclerc’s heavy crash and began to pressure Russell.
Mercedes adopted different strategies when Antonelli was called to the pits to put on new tires during the Virtual Safety Car. Russell stayed on the track with the hard tires that had been installed during the stoppage caused by the red flag, while his teammate gained an advantage with the newer tires in the final stretch.
Russell stated that he expected both cars to stay on the track, and acknowledged that the team had to bet on different paths: “To be honest, I thought we would both stay on the track. I was surprised to see him stop,” he said.
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The Briton assessed that there was no way for Mercedes to know at that moment which strategy would be better: “In the end, it was a bet on both sides. At that moment, the team didn’t know which strategy would be better. It made sense to split the cars, but in the end, Kimi had a great pace,” Russell concluded.
Despite losing the victory, the British driver said he accepted the result, highlighting that his recent performance was more positive than before the August break, although he admitted he would have liked to finish first.
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