George Russell (Mercedes): Fast crash at 340 km/h / Formula 1

GP winner George Russell's face was full of horror after the traditional Monza GP when he spoke about his duel with Mexican Sergio Pérez: “To be honest, for a brief moment I thought there would be a crash at 340 km/h.” It's unthinkable what would happen if I were to take to the air.”

The last hot scene happened during Russell's pursuit. Shortly after the start, the Englishman had touched the rear of Oscar Piastri's McLaren with the front wing of his Mercedes in the first corner, after which George had to go to the pits to get a new wing.

As Russell worked his way through the field, Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Pérez put up tough resistance and fought for 7th place.

Russell continued: “He squeezed me over to the grass on the right at 340 km/h. That was really at the extreme limit, luckily everything went well. There is nothing to settle between Checo and me, it was hard but not unfair, and in the end we didn't touch each other. But I guess it was a matter of millimetres.”

The 26-year-old Briton said of the contact shortly after the start: “My brakes started to lock up and because I was so close to an Oscar, I had to pull to the left and drive into the emergency exit. But I couldn't prevent the graze. It's pretty annoying when you lose the good starting position from third place like that.”

“We then tried to hold out until the first tire change despite the lost end plate, but it didn't work. I simply lost too much downforce on the front axle. I also had to come into the pits on lap 8.”

“The race was disappointing, but I have to be fair and admit that we couldn't keep up with the speed of Ferrari and McLaren this time.”

“Formula 1 is a bit strange at the moment. Red Bull Racing has lost the momentum it had in the first part of the season. Ferrari struggled in the Zandvoort practice but showed good speed in the race and has now even won it in Monza. We were the best team in Belgium but we were not competitive here in Italy. It's all a bit inexplicable.”

Italian GP, ​​Autodromo Nazionale di Monza

01. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, 1:14:40.727 h
02. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, +2,664 seconds
03. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, +6.153
04. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, +15,621
05. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, +22,820
06. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, +37.932
07. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, +39,715
08. Sergio Pérez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, +54.148
09. Alex Albon (T), Williams, +1:07.456 min
10. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, +1:08.302
11. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, +1:08.495
12. Franco Colapinto (RA), Williams, +1:21.308
13. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), Racing Bulls, +1:33.452
14. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, +1 lap
15. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, +1
16. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Clean, +1
17. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, +1
18. Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Clean, +1
19. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, +1
Out of
Yuki Tsunoda (J), Racing Bulls, collision damage

World Championship standings (after 16 of 24 Grands Prix and 3 of 6 sprints)

driver
01. Verstappen 303 points
02. Norris241
03. Leclerc217
04. Piastri 197
05.Sainz184
06. Hamilton164
07. Perez 143
08. Russell128
09. Alonso-50
10. Walk 24
11. Hulkenberg 22
12. Tsunoda22
13. Ricciardo12
14. Gasly-8
15. Oliver Bearman (GB) 6
16. Magnussens 6
17. Albon6
18. Ocon 5
19. Zhou-0
20. Logan Sargeant (USA) 0
21. Bottas-0
22. Colapinto 0

Constructors' Cup
01. Red Bull Racing 446 points
02. McLaren 438
03. Ferrari407
04. Mercedes-Benz 292
05. Aston-Martin 74
06. Racing Bulls 34
07. Haas-28
08. Alpine 13
09. Williams 6
10. Clean 0