Mercedes chief criticises ‘mischievous’ radio message about George Russell at Monza

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A troubling start to the Italian Grand Prix saw Mercedes’ George Russell take to the escape road at turn one to avoid crashing into the back of his rivals.

In the melee, the Brit managed to pick up some front wing damage, with his right endplate hanging off his W15 car as a result.

After a few laps of flapping around, the piece fell off before the FIA could instruct him to stop to change the part for safety reasons.

But that wasn’t without Mercedes‘ rivals complaining about the risk that it posed – luckily it fell out of harms way when it did disconnect from the car.

Mercedes fire back at rivals after ‘mischievous’ radio message

With the structural integrity of the front wing still in tact, Russell continued to run before stopping after being overtaken by Max Verstappen.

He re-joined the race in a net eighth place, behind both Red Bull cars who have been struggling all weekend.

READ MORE: Max Verstappen bemoans Red Bull spending money on ‘something else’ rather than Monza upgrade

Mercedes’ chief communications officer, Bradley Lord shared his views on the matter, including on Sergio Perez‘s complains about the front wing over the radio.

“I think it’s pretty clear that the wing is performing as it should and George is running competitively. I think there’s some mischievous radio messages going out there,” he told Sky Sports.

“That’s just all part of the game and I think the FIA are pretty wise to it.”

Were Red Bull obliged to complain about Russell’s car?

Radio complaints about such damage are reasonable on both safety grounds, and for the sake of competition too.

Any edge that rivals can gain over each other they will attempt to explore, so Perez’s radio message was of no surprise.

READ MORE: Nico Rosberg shares ‘wide open’ championship verdict and reveals Red Bull worries

Red Bull need to make sure that they can claim every point possible in the chase for a third consecutive constructors’ championship – where they currently hold a 30-point lead.

McLaren’s pace and rate of upgrades mean that the Milton Keynes-based outfit is on the back foot and is likely to surrender the crown at the end of the season, having once had a 115-point lead this season.

Russell and Perez themselves are separated by 17 points in the drivers’ standings, with the Brit hit by a considerable amount of bad luck this year on track.