Russell's jaw dropped by Red Bull: 'In such a short time...'

Starting from P3 on the grid, George Russell finished only in seventh place at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. An incident on Lap 1 already put the Briton on the back foot, and then had a tough battle with Sergio Perez. The Briton reacted to his race in the Italian paddock.

Russell locked up into Turn 1, and then had to take the escape road, losing out on important positions early on. "I just got caught out by Oscar's braking point. I touched the brakes, I started locking up because I was so close to him, and I had to take avoidant action. It's quite obsessing when your whole weekend goes away from you so quick. But looking at the pace afterwards, I don't think we would have been able to keep up with the McLarens and Ferrari," the Briton reacted to GPblog including other media in Monza.

The two-time Grand Prix winner's front wing also damaged early on, therefore, he lost more time in the pit lane. "It lost a huge amount of performance in Stint 1, so we had to pit at lap 8. Obviously, you changed the wing, slow stop. It was a really disappointing day, but ultimately, we didn't have the pace," Russell explained.

He added: "The sport's a bit strange at the moment with how Red Bull have lost so much pace. Ferrari seem to be struggling in Zandvoort and all the races prior, but then they were so quick on Sunday in Zandvoort and this whole weekend, so they're already there."

Russell on battle with Perez

Fighting for P7, Russell had a fierce battle with the Mexican driver. "Fun? I'm not sure you can describe that fun because I thought I was about to go airborne when he was squeezing me at 340. But hard racing, and at least glad to make it one position," he said about the incident.

"No, there's nothing to say [to Checo]. We didn't crash at the end of the day, and I got past him. Half a centimetre more and it could have been a different story."

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