George Russell believes that Mercedes made the right call by running two different strategies, even though it meant he fell short to Kimi Antonelli in a dramatic Italian Grand Prix. The race unfolded with Russell in the lead, followed closely by Antonelli, who had surged from a nineteenth‑grid start to challenge for the win after just 13 laps. The gap between them narrowed to a single second when a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed with 25 laps remaining.
When the VSC came out, Mercedes elected to pit Antonelli for fresh medium‑compound tyres while keeping Russell out on his hard tyre. That decision created a roughly 15‑second swing between the two teammates once the VSC period ended.
Antonelli, now on a faster rubber, began to claw his way through the midfield, passing rivals one after another. With three laps to go, he overtook Russell and clinched the victory at his home circuit, leaving the British driver 66 points adrift of the Italian in the Drivers' Championship with ten races still to run. Russell explained his perspective to the media, noting, "I was on the hard tyre and Kimi was on the medium tyre when the VSC came out, so if either of us had to pit, it would have been Kimi. I was a little annoyed by the timing of the VSC because, as Max said, it would have been difficult for the medium‑tyre cars to match the hard‑tyre pace.
That said, it doesn’t take anything away from Kimi’s performance." Had Mercedes opted to pit both drivers, Antonelli would likely have been held up in the pit lane for a few seconds, surrendering track position to Max Verstappen, who also chose to pit under the VSC. Russell told Sky Sports F1 that the VSC arrived at an "awkward time" and that the team was unsure which strategy would be optimal. "Because Max was in the fight, the team decided to split the strategy, which was probably the right thing for the team to do," he said. He added that hindsight makes it easy to criticize decisions: "If I had pitted and won, they would have said Kimi should have stayed out.
I would have liked to battle Kimi; it was a nice duel and I felt I was holding my own. That was probably another reason the team wanted us on different strategies. I get it." Naomi Schiff of Sky Sports F1 questioned Russell’s composure, asking why he didn’t seem more frustrated. She suggested that after giving everything and seeing the team execute what they believed was the best plan, it might be hard to be angry when a teammate wins after starting nineteenth.
"Kimi is going to be incredibly tough to beat this season," she added. Team principal Toto Wolff later revealed that Mercedes’ simulation tools indicated Russell’s hard‑tyre plan would be quicker than Antonelli’s medium‑tyre approach at the moment the VSC was triggered.
The data projected that Antonelli would get close but not catch Russell. Wolff also explained that the team regarded the hard tyre as a "forever tyre" that could last the entire race, whereas the medium tyre offered higher performance but required a pit stop. "The differentiator today was Antonelli’s ability to navigate traffic," Wolff said, drawing a parallel with past performances by Lewis Hamilton.
"When a driver and a car become one, nothing can stop them." Going into the weekend, Antonelli was expected to lose ground to his closest championship rivals—Russell, Hamilton and Lando Norris. Instead, he expanded his lead, while Russell now faces a potential grid penalty because he does not have enough allocated engines to finish the season without a penalty. Despite the setback, Russell emphasized that he is not fixated on the title battle.
He is instead focusing on the positives of recent performances at Monza and Zandvoort, which have shown the team’s competitiveness after a relatively quiet first half of the season. "We are where we are. Kimi has been driving incredibly this season and deserves to lead the championship with a healthy margin," Russell said.
"I’m not thinking about the fight or a comeback. I’m just concentrating on each race and trying to win it. I’m not putting pressure on myself saying ‘I need to do this or that’.
I just need to win more races, and of course he’s in that spot." Looking ahead, Formula 1 will head to Madrid for the Spanish Grand Prix at the brand‑new Madring circuit. All sessions will be broadcast live from Friday on Sky Sports F1, with streaming available via NOW – no long‑term contract required and the option to cancel at any time. The upcoming race will give both Mercedes drivers a fresh chance to test their strategies and perhaps narrow the gap in the championship standings.