George Russell has changed his mind about Kimi Antonelli
Tense moments unfolded during the Dutch Grand Prix when, in the closing stages of the race at Zandvoort, George Russell attempted to defy team orders to let Andrea Kimi Antonelli pass him, before ultimately complying with the instructions from Toto Wolff and the Mercedes pit wall.
After the race, the British driver—who had a significantly slower race pace than his teammate throughout the race—didn’t want to stir up controversy and showed that he had reconsidered: “Third place is the right result for me; Kimi was ahead before the Virtual Safety Car, so he deserved to finish second.”
“At that moment, the Ferraris were closing in fast, and of course I wanted to fight. With Hamilton closing in, we couldn’t afford to waste time, since we also had to defend against the Ferraris behind us. If we had, we probably would have lost a lot of time and I would have missed the podium. In the end, we managed to maximize the result for the team, and that’s a positive.”
The British driver did, however, emphasize that the rivals are closing in: “We gave it our all; it was clear we’d have a tough time defending against Lando and the Ferraris, which were incredibly fast. The competition is stronger than ever, and it took us by surprise.” Russell’s weekend was nonetheless very positive: the Brit won Saturday’s Sprint race, and by finishing on the podium on Sunday, he tied Lewis Hamilton for second place in the overall standings, with both now 59 points behind Antonelli.
Antonelli commented on the condition of his car after finishing second at Zandvoort: “I couldn’t have done better than second; it was the best possible result because the rear of the Mercedes was really very unstable.” This result now allows him to head to Monza as the World Championship leader—the first Italian driver to do so since the days of Alberto Ascari. “I don’t feel the pressure; in fact, I think I’ll be able to enjoy the Monza weekend even more than last year,” Antonelli told Sky Sport, adding that he can’t wait to tackle the Italian Grand Prix knowing he has “a huge opportunity to have a good race and score more important points.”
