Croft says Russell deserved equal strategy call after Mercedes cost him Monza win

George Russell was leading the Italian Grand Prix at Monza when Mercedes chose to pit team-mate Kimi Antonelli for medium tyres during a late virtual safety car period, leaving Russell — who had been running hard compound tyres since an early red flag restart — out on track. Antonelli closed the gap on fresher rubber, overtook Russell with three laps remaining, and claimed his first home grand prix victory after starting 19th on the grid. Russell finished second.

Sky Sports Formula 1 lead commentator David Croft has since argued that Mercedes failed to protect the car that was actually leading the race. Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Show, Croft said Russell had every right to feel hard done by.

“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 said.

Croft acknowledged that a double stack — pitting both drivers consecutively — might have cost Antonelli a couple of seconds, but argued the cheap pitstop window made it a worthwhile risk for the team to protect their lead driver. “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,” he added.

Russell himself hinted at his frustration in the immediate post-race interviews, telling reporters he was “a little surprised to see Kimi coming in,” suggesting he had not anticipated any pit stops at that stage of the race.

Croft pointed to that reaction as telling. “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.”

The call raises questions about how Mercedes manages internal competition now that Antonelli, the 18-year-old Italian who replaced Lewis Hamilton this season, is a genuine race winner. Russell had been the team’s clear number one through much of the campaign, but Sunday’s outcome at Monza suggests the dynamic within the Brackley garage is shifting.