George Russell narrowly avoided a potentially catastrophic crash during the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, after an intense high-speed battle with Sergio Perez that nearly sent him airborne.
Russell, who had already sustained front wing damage early in the race, made a remarkable comeback from 12th position following a second pitstop. After overtaking Daniel Ricciardo and Alexander Albon, the Mercedes driver found himself in a fierce battle for eighth place with Red Bull’s Perez.
On lap 38, Russell challenged Perez as they approached Variante del Rettifilo. In a dramatic maneuver, Perez defended aggressively, leaving barely a car’s width for Russell on the inside. As Russell brushed the grass with his right wheels, he managed to complete the overtaking move, though the narrow margin left by Perez was unsettling.
Russell ultimately finished seventh, ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, but 39.7 seconds behind race winner Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. Reflecting on the close call, Russell described the encounter as dangerously close. “I mean, fun? I’m not sure you can describe that as ‘fun,’ because I thought I was about to go airborne when he was squeezing me at 340km/h,” Russell said. “It was right at the very, very limit.”
Despite the intense nature of the duel, Russell has no plans to discuss the incident further with Perez. “There’s nothing to say,” he noted. “We didn’t crash, and I got past him. But half a centimeter more and it could have been a different story.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff weighed in on incident, suggesting that Perez’s defensive move could be seen as a-borderline maneuver. “Was there enough of a gap? The gap was tiny, but the move came late,” Wolff commented.
Perez finished the race in eighth, trailing Russell by 14.4 seconds. Both drivers are currently ranked seventh and eighth in the drivers’ championship, with Ru-ssell holding 143 points and Perez 128.
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