Why Mercedes didn't pit Russell under virtual safety car in Italian GP

Kimi Antonelli's sensational win from the back of the grid in the Italian Grand Prix was thanks to a great drive, but perhaps also a little help from strategy and a timely virtual safety car.

The Italian was the only Mercedes driver to make a pitstop during the race - and ultimately defeated his team-mate and championship rival George Russell.

Mercedes split the strategies between its drivers, putting Antonelli on mediums after the early red flag. That was the only option for the Italian to go to the end without stopping, having started the race on hards. Russell, on the other hand, started on mediums and switched to hards after the race was stopped following Charles Leclerc's crash - and stayed on that tyre for the rest of the distance.

For Antonelli, Mercedes used the opportunity to switch him to hards when Lance Stroll's stoppage caused a virtual safety car on lap 27.

By that point, Antonelli had already made his way through the field and was battling Russell for the lead - although Mercedes asked him not to attack his team-mate after the initial phase of the fight, allowing them to try to build a gap to Max Verstappen.

Then came the call for Antonelli to pit. And although the Italian was able to come back and overtake his team-mate on fresher tyres, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said the team itself didn't know which strategy would ultimately prove better.

“We didn't know what was the better strategy," he told the media, including Autosport, after the race. "At that stage, the system said that the one-stop [for Russell] comes out ahead. That two-stop was coming close to the end, but wouldn't catch. So that's what the software said.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

“It was also the right thing to split the strategies because it was unknown what the better one would be. In the morning meeting we said the hard tyre is going to go forever. You can start on it and finish on it and you can see with George it was a forever tyre but it didn't have the performance that of the medium.”

The decision to stop Antonelli was made despite him reporting that his tyres were in good shape.

“We didn't talk to Kimi about the stop," Wolff confirmed. "We asked for the state of the tyre and he said, 'Well it's actually good' but it was clear that we saw abrasion and I think it was on Lewis' car. We saw some abrasion on a McLaren. So it was the right thing to do. And that's why it didn't need any big discussion.

“But then having said that, Kimi was able to extract 35 laps or 40 laps from that tyre in a consistent way and that's certainly his skill.”

Russell himself believes he had enough pace to win the race had Antonelli stayed on the same strategy.

"I would have loved to have continued on the same strategy," he said during the post-race press conference. "Because I felt in a good position in that battle. I knew exactly what I needed to do with the energy management to defend but also when to attack and make those moves and I put a lot of preparation into this race in that regard.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

"Then of course when the VSC came out, it came out at that perfect point for the drivers to pull the trigger and take the pitstop."

Asked whether he had considered stopping for fresh rubber at that point, Russell said: "I didn't. I actually thought the guys behind me were going to stay out as well but I'm sure the team were quite nervous on the pitwall watching our battle and were probably quite happy to send us on different strategies. 

"When we had Max in the mix as well from a team perspective, you're covering off both scenarios. So, today Kimi did a great job.

"I was on the hard tyre and Kimi was on the medium tyre. So if either of us were to pit, it was going to be Kimi. And that's why I was just a little bit annoyed with the timing of that VSC, because I think it would have been tough for those guys on the medium to have competed with anybody on the hard tyre.

"But, it takes nothing away from Kimi's drive altogether. It would have been very interesting to see how the race would have panned out if there was no VSC."

After the race at Monza, Russell trails Antonelli by 66 points in the championship.