Nico Rosberg drops verdict on Mercedes F1 favouritism suggestions at Italian GP
Nico Rosberg gives his take on claims of Mercedes favouritism at Monza.
2016 Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg has dismissed suggestions that Mercedes favourited Andrea Kimi Antonelli over George Russell at the Italian Grand Prix.
Russell traded the lead with his recovering team-mate Antonelli several times during an epic battle at Monza but found himself ahead by one second when a virtual safety car with 25 laps remaining swung the race on its head.
Mercedes decided to pit Antonelli for new mediums but kept Russell out in the lead on old hards. Antonelli charged back through from sixth and overtook Russell with three laps to go to secure a stunning, and unlikely, comeback victory on home soil.
The result leaves Russell trailing Antonelli by 66 points in the drivers’ championship with 10 scheduled races left.
Asked whether the Silver Arrows favoured Antonelli, former Mercedes driver Rosberg was clear in his response: "No, no, no, no, no. Equal opportunity for both. It has to be the case. And that is the case. They're racing for the championship.
“It’s very clear internally in the team. George is leading the race. He gets the best strategy to get in the fastest way possible to the end of the race, he gets the first choice. It doesn’t matter where Kimi is.
“That’s what Mercedes now need to confirm, that at that point the best way for George was to stay out and not come in and take those medium tyres. If that’s the case, then it’s all easy and fair.”
Rosberg continued: “George has to get the best strategy. It has to have been that it’s the fastest way to get to the end by staying out on those hards because he only had used mediums left, but it’s hard to know from outside. I hope that was the case.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff stressed the team had no other options with Russell.
“George was on the hard and we needed to go on the one-stop so there was no chance,” he told Sky Sports F1.
Meanwhile, Russell downplayed the notion he was unhappy with Mercedes’ strategy.
"I was on the hard tyre and Kimi was on the medium tyre [when the VSC came], so if either of us were to pit, it was going to be Kimi," he said.
"I guess, why I was just a little bit annoyed with the timing of that VSC because, like Max said, 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.”
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