George Russell mocks Sergio Perez after Lewis Hamilton's criticism of F1 rival

03 September 2023 , 17:28

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George Russell kept Sergio Perez behind for longer than he expected at Monza (Image: Getty Images)

George Russell expressed his surprise that it took Sergio Perez so long to get the better of him in the Italian Grand Prix.

The Mexican finished runner-up in the Monza race, behind only team-mate Max Verstappen who made history with his 10th Formula 1 win in a row.

Perez overtook both Ferrari cars and Russell to get there, as they had all started ahead of him on the grid. The Brit was the first to be reeled in by the Red Bull, but that overtake happened further into the race than Russell had anticipated.

And he made a point of saying that as he spoke to reporters afterwards. "I was surprised how long it took Checo to pass with the superior pace of that car," smirked the Mercedes racer.

"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.

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"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."

It comes after team-mate Lewis Hamilton criticised Perez indirectly earlier in the race weekend. Speaking to Sky Sports Italy, the seven-time world champion played down F1 rival Verstappen's achievements and suggested he has not been pushed hard by his Red Bull team-mates.

He said: "In my personal opinion, all my team-mates have been stronger than the team-mates Max has had – Jenson [Button], Fernando, 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."

In response, Verstappen suggested Hamilton may be "jealous of my current success". The Dutchman bristled: "This kind of statement... he possibly thinks he's winning something with that, but it makes no difference to me. I think Mercedes have a very hard time dealing with losing, after all these years of winning so much.

"At some point, you have to be realistic and then you have to be able to appreciate what other teams are doing. We did the same when they were dominant and we also said, 'We have to work harder because we are not good enough'. You can keep shouting and screaming that what we do is not that special... you just have to deal with yourself."

Daniel Moxon