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09/06 08:39 CDT Russell aims to trim Antonelli's F1 lead at Italian GP,
Ferrari's Leclerc crashes out
Russell aims to trim Antonelli's F1 lead at Italian GP, Ferrari's Leclerc
crashes out
By DANIELLA MATAR
AP Sports Writer
MONZA, Italy (AP) --- George Russell will be looking to make up some ground on
Kimi Antonelli in the Formula 1 title race, with his Mercedes teammate starting
from the back of the grid at the Italian Grand Prix.
The race had to be temporarily halted after about six minutes when Ferrari
driver Charles Leclerc crashed hard into the barriers, bringing out the red
flag. It was due to restart at 1539 local time, following a delay of more than
30 minutes.
By then Russell, who started second, was already leading after getting ahead of
surprise polesitter Pierre Gasly at the start of the second lap. However,
Antonelli had sliced through the field and was already up to 12th.
Moments later disaster struck at Ferrari's home race.
Leclerc lost control coming out of Parabolica at the end of Lap 2 and swerved
off into the barriers at high speed. He got out of his car and sat down near
the track, looking heartbroken.
The hordes of passionate, red-clad tifosi around the track looked similarly
despondent, with many in tears.
The Ferraris had started in the second row but Lewis Hamilton had tumbled down
to 10th after coming together with Leclerc at the second turn.
"Charles pushed me off!" Hamilton exclaimed over team radio.
Russell is second in the overall standings, level with Hamilton and 59 points
behind Antonelli, who is bidding to become F1's youngest champion.
The 20-year-old Antonelli has taken on a hefty grid penalty at Monza after
Mercedes opted to swap his car's power unit to head off potential reliability
problems in the second half of the season.
Lando Norris is hoping to make it a hat trick of victories to turbocharge his
title defense but he starts in eighth. The McLaren driver triumphed in Hungary
and the Netherlands to cut the gap to Antonelli to 83 points.
___
See AP's full auto racing coverage here
