George Russell and Lando Norris take Highway Code quiz
George Russell directed a smug comment towards Sergio Perez after finishing behind the Red Bull star at the Italian Grand Prix. Russell earned plaudits for holding off the Mexican’s challenge for as long as he did, with the nature of the battle even surprising the Mercedes ace himself.
Red Bull perhaps made things trickier than they needed to be in Monza, with Max Verstappen qualifying in P2 and Perez managing only fifth on the grid. That left the latter with plenty of talent to fight past before getting to the front of the race.
Verstappen never looked back after squeezing past pole-sitter Carlos Sainz at the end of the first stint, with Red Bull chiefs then looking towards Perez to make it a one-two. Eventually, the 33-year-old obliged, but a drawn-out battle with Russell halted his progress early on.
Compared to his team-mate, Perez found it tough fighting up through the field, and Russell made a point of acknowledging that after the chequered flag.
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Smirking, the Brit said: “I was surprised how long it took Checo to pass with the superior pace of that car. They were so fast in the high-speed corners, we saw it yesterday, probably a factor into their better tyre degradation than the rest of us.
“But I was really pleased to hold him off for that long and felt good and confident under braking into turn one. There’s something satisfying about it when you do manage to hold a car off like that for so long. So I take a small positive in that there was no mistake from my side in those laps but unfortunately the pace just wasn’t there today.”
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Perez has found himself in the firing line on numerous occasions this season, having ultimately failed to take the fight to Verstappen. Earlier this week, Lewis Hamilton appeared to take a pop at Perez by downplaying the standard of Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mates.
“In my personal opinion, all my team-mates have been stronger than the team-mates Max has had,” the seven-time world champion told Sky Sports. “Jenson [Button], Fernando [Alonso], George [Russell], Valtteri [Bottas], Nico [Rosberg].
“I’ve had so many. These guys have all been very, very strong, very consistent – and Max has not raced against anyone like that.”
Although Russell may have enjoyed keeping Perez in his rear-view mirrors for as long as he did, Mercedes were ultimately left to settle for P5 and P6 at Monza, as Red Bull crowned Verstappen’s 10th consecutive race win with a resounding one-two.
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