George Russell has chosen to focus on the bigger picture after Kimi Antonelli denied him victory at the Italian Grand Prix, pointing to a marked improvement in his form since the summer break.
Starting second on the grid at Monza, Russell led the majority of the race only to be overtaken by his Mercedes team-mate in the closing laps, after the 20-year-old took advantage of a Virtual Safety Car to pit for fresh tyres. Having started 19th following a power unit penalty, Antonelli's charge was remarkable, and Russell was generous in his assessment.
"It was obviously a great race all around from a neutral perspective," the Briton told media, including RacingNews365. "As soon as I saw Kimi up to P5 after just a handful of laps, I knew he was going to be in the fight with us. So clearly that was a very impressive opening few laps, and it was just very challenging to break the slipstream. I think whoever was leading would then be vulnerable to being overtaken again, so I think that's what helped drag a lot of cars along in those early laps."
Although second place is a hard pill to swallow given where Antonelli started, it continues the trend that has Russell in far better spirits than before the shutdown. His run into the summer break was brutal, ending with a first-lap collision with Lewis Hamilton at Spa and a subdued seventh in Hungary, scoring just six points across the final two rounds. That came after a strong three-race stretch of podiums, including victory in Austria.
Since the season resumed, Russell has been revitalised: winning the sprint at Zandvoort, finishing third in the Dutch Grand Prix, and leading at Monza before finishing almost four seconds behind Antonelli. "But I'm going to take the positives from the weekend because, for me personally, pre-summer break it was a real tough run of form," the seven-time grand prix winner added. "Come back since the break, with the sprint and the two races, we've been in the top three in all of them. So, of course, I would have loved to have won today, but the performance is far better than I've had pre-shutdown."
Baca Juga
Ranking pembalap F1 GP Italia 2026: Verstappen menang spektakuler dari P19, Gasly start pole finis P7. Simak analisis lengkap Edd Straw.
Martin Brundle tegaskan pendapatnya soal tabrakan Hamilton dan Leclerc di Monza. Nico Rosberg menilai kesalahan ada pada Leclerc. Simak analisis lengkapnya.
Kimi Antonelli menang GP Italia di Monza, jadi pembalap Italia pertama sejak 1966. Unggul 66 poin atas Russell. Baca pesan emosionalnya!
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