F1 legend issues brutally honest George Russell verdict after Monza: 'It's embarrassing'

George Russell

F1 legend issues brutally honest George Russell verdict: 'It's embarrassing'

A sobering defeat for the Mercedes man

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson F1 Editor

Motorsport journalist covering F1 since 2024

Tuesday 8 September 2026 13:55

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Former F1 star David Coulthard says that he feels sympathy for George Russell after his 'embarrassing' defeat to team-mate Kimi Antonelli at the Italian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes duo entered the race in Monza sitting one-two in the drivers' championship, with Russell trailing his team-mate by 59 points ahead of lights out.

However, Russell had the opportunity to make up some serious ground in his bid to secure a maiden F1 world championship, lining up P2 on the grid for Sunday's race while his team-mate was down in P19 after taking a big grid penalty.

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Things never played out that way, though, with Antonelli having made up a number of places in the early stages of the race, eventually battling with Russell for the lead and going on to beat his team-mate to take a home victory.

It was a special moment for Antonelli and one that will always be remembered when his career is discussed in the future, but at the same time, for Russell, it was a huge missed opportunity.

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Coulthard: Russell defeat to Antonelli at Monza embarrassing

Russell now trails Antonelli by 66 points in the drivers' standings heading to the Spanish Grand Prix this upcoming weekend. However, more than Monza being a missed opportunity, Coulthard feels it was an embarrassing moment for the Brit.

Speaking on the Up to Speed podcast, Coulthard offered his take on what went down in Monza between the two Mercedes stars, and had great sympathy for Russell.

"I really felt for George because he was beaten, and you can see he was trying to sort of be philosophical about it," Coulthard explained.

"But, you know, it's embarrassing, isn't it?" he added. "To start at the front and be beaten by your teammate from the from the back."

George Russell on Monza defeat

Only Russell knows how embarrassing it was for him to be beaten by Antonelli in Monza, but if that was how he was feeling, he put on a brave front when addressing the media post-race on Sunday.

“Firstly, a huge congrats to Kimi because, on the face of it, starting from where he did and finishing the winner was incredibly impressive,” Russell told Sky Sports post-race.

“When I saw he was already up to P5 after just a couple of laps, I was like, ‘okay, he's in the fight,’ and the VSC came at an awkward time. I don't think the team knew what the right strategy was, and as Max was in the fight, deciding to split the strategy was probably the right thing for the team to do.

“In hindsight, of course it’s easy to say I should have pitted, or if I won the race, they would have said Kimi should have stayed out. I would have liked to have just had a fight with Kimi. It was quite a nice battle, and I felt like I was holding my own at that point, but that was probably another reason why the team wanted us to go on different strategies.”

Kimi Antonelli leads George Russell by 66 points in the drivers' standings after Monza

Russell continued, revealing he is no longer even thinking about the championship such is the gap to Antonelli at this stage.

“I'm not even thinking about it [the championship], to be honest,” Russell added. “We are where we are.

“He's been driving incredibly this season. He deserves to be leading the championship and he’s got a very healthy lead, so yeah, I’m not even going to think about the fight or the comeback; I'm just thinking about going to every race and trying to win it, and it will be what it'll be.

“I'm not putting any pressure on myself in this regard by saying, ‘I need to do this or I need to do that’. I just need to try and win more races.”

Written by

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson - F1 Editor

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F1 Mercedes George Russell Kimi Antonelli Italian Grand Prix David Coulthard