George Russell "should feel aggrieved" after Mercedes Monza strategy call, says David Croft

Sky Sports Formula 1 lead commentator David Croft has argued that George Russell has every right to “feel aggrieved” after Mercedes’ strategy call during the virtual safety car period at the Italian Grand Prix.

During the race at Monza, Russell was leading on hard compound tyres, having committed to a long stint following an early red flag restart. When a late virtual safety car period occurred, Mercedes opted to pit Russell’s team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who was also fighting for the win, for medium tyres to cover Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Russell was instructed to stay on track.

With the tyre offset, the Italian driver closed the gap and overtook Russell with three laps remaining and went on to claim his first home grand prix victory after starting from 19th on the grid. Russell finished second.

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Show, Croft claimed that the Brackley outfit failed to protect the car leading the race on track.

“He should feel aggrieved. The strategy was to go to the end. He made it to the end. His pace was OK. But the minute Mercedes are thinking, ‘Well, we should bring in Kimi to cover off Max,’ they should also be thinking, ‘We’ll bring in George as well,'” Croft explained.

George Russell, Mercedes

“I know Kimi might have lost out by a couple of seconds with that double stack, but you’ve got a cheap pitstop. You’ve got an opportunity there. George says it came at the wrong time; the medium tyre runners would have struggled towards the end. But a bit of safety first on this one, and give your lead driver, who’s out there and is doing a fine job, the opportunity to compete on equal terms if you’ve got equality within the team, which they have.

“I would feel a bit aggrieved if I was George, and he said it, didn’t he, in the immediate post-race interviews, ‘I was a little surprised to see Kimi coming in.’ I don’t think he thought anyone was going to come in. Maybe he should have done, but if they thought Kimi needed a change of tyres, they should have done the same with George.”

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