British pilot George Russell (Mercedes), third in the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix, was “satisfied” with the team’s results in the three consecutive races held in Europe.
“I told the team: It doesn’t matter if we’re fast or not, we’ve been getting podiums lately and we’re coming out of these three races with two podiums and a fourth place and we have to be satisfied.”commented at the foot of the track at the conclusion of the Monza race.
Later, together with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, with whom he shared the podium, Russell brought to the memory of the fans one of the most spicy statements by Juan Pablo Montoya in Formula 1 to refer to an overtaking attempt he made on Leclerc at the start of the race in Italy.
And Max Verstappen put the icing on the cake.
(Don’t stop reading: ‘My son with Down syndrome was raped by a high-performance para-athlete’).
‘You have to be blind or stupid’
In Italy, Mercedes tried a somewhat different strategy to Ferrari and Red Bull, with a hard tire stint.
“We have to do something different to fight Max (Verstappen) Charles (Leclerc), but they were too fast for us. I’m glad I tried something. It is what we have to do in the position that we are”, admitted Rusell.
Then, the young Briton lamented the death of Queen Elizabeth II, for whom a minute of silence was observed last Friday before free practice and also in the moments before the Italian Grand Prix- “It is a very sad moment, but he has had a life to be celebrated”indicated the Mercedes driver.
Minutes later, sitting next to his box mates, he was questioned about the overtake he tried to make to Leclerc, but it was not successful because the Monegasque closed.
That’s where Juan Pablo Montoya entered the scene.
“Yes, it was very tight. What was that phrase that Montoya said in Ímola in 2004? ‘If you can’t see me out there on the outside’…(laughs),” Russell jokingly asked of the recent racing action.
“It was tight,” Leclerc commented.
“You didn’t see it, did you?” Verstappen added with a laugh.
Montoya’s sentence
Russell’s allusion to Montoya was because of what happened in 2004, at the San Marino Grand Prix. At that time, Montoya tried to overtake Michael Schumacher but he closed him off and took him off the track.
“I saw that he attacked from the outside and I was braking. Then there were the others turning the corner. First of all, I didn’t see him for a second turning the corner. Normally, you lose grip, so I wasn’t expecting him to be there. Schumacher said at the time.
Montoya, who was right next to him, said, “Oh no, he didn’t see me there… well… bah! You have to be blind or stupid not to see me… but you know, it’s motorsport.”
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