Russell: Closing Antonelli's championship gap will be very difficult
After Kimi Antonelli's seventh win of the season at Monza, George Russell admits he is no longer thinking about the F1 title fight and is instead focusing on individual race weekends. The Briton noted that a virtual safety car appearing at the perfect moment proved decisive in helping his teammate.
At the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, Kimi Antonelli delivered an impressive performance, starting from 19th place yet still winning on his home track. It was his seventh victory of the season, extending his championship lead over teammate George Russell to 66 points.
The race presented Russell with a good opportunity to cut into the previous 59-point gap, as the Briton started from second position. Instead, the result went the other way, with the gap between the two drivers growing even larger.
Accepting the title fight is over
Discussing the situation, Russell openly acknowledged that he no longer considers himself a title contender. He said he is not thinking about fighting for the championship or returning to contention, but is instead focused on taking each race weekend as it comes and getting the most out of it.
The Briton praised Antonelli's performance this season, saying his teammate's advantage would be extremely difficult to erase. He said he intends to simply accept the current situation and keep trying to win as many races as possible going forward.
Strategy and tyre choices
Mercedes opted to split strategies between its two drivers this time — Russell started the race on medium tyres before switching to hards, while Antonelli began on hard tyres. Russell said that during the middle part of the race he felt confident about his position, knowing his rivals' tyres would wear out faster than his own.
However, the decisive factor turned out to be a virtual safety car period that appeared at exactly the right moment, allowing Antonelli to make an additional pit stop and switch to fresher tyres. Russell admitted it would have been interesting to see how the race might have unfolded without that VSC period.
