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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.
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But he will start second, behind surprise polesitter Pierre Gasly, who stunned everyone by snatching top spot for the first time in qualifying on Saturday.
Russell will also have both Ferrari cars breathing down his neck as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton fill out the second row in the scuderia’s home race, where they will be cheered on by the hordes of passionate, red-clad tifosi.
Russell is second in the overall standings, level with Hamilton and 59 points behind Antonelli, who is bidding to become F1’s youngest champion.
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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.
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