Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has argued that George Russell was denied the pole position for the Italian Grand Prix because Max Verstappen “got done over” him in the final moments of the qualifying session at Monza. Russell had looked set to convert his status as the pre‑session favourite into a front‑row start, but his ultimate flying lap was disrupted when the Red Bull driver slowed down directly ahead of him and his teammate Kimi Antonelli, compromising the slipstream that is essential for a fast lap at the high‑speed circuit. Mercedes had deliberately placed the championship‑leading Antonelli in front of Russell to provide the British driver with a tow. Antonelli was serving a penalty for exceeding his allocated engine components and was destined to start from the back of the grid regardless of his qualifying performance, so the team used his run to benefit Russell.
Despite improving his time and briefly topping the charts, Russell saw his pole moment snatched away by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who delivered one of the most surprising qualifying results in recent Formula 1 history. When Sky Sports F1 asked Wolff whether anything had gone wrong for Russell, the Mercedes boss replied: “Yes, at the end he got done over by Max in the final run when launching the lap. It was just too close, and that compromised the lap time and ultimately cost us pole.” At Monza, a clean slipstream can shave tenths of a second off a lap, so Verstappen’s decision to brake earlier than expected had a cascading effect.
As Verstappen decelerated approaching the final corner, Antonelli managed to pass the Red Bull, but Russell remained directly behind the pair, losing the aerodynamic advantage he needed for a perfect lap. Russell later explained the situation: “We had a bit of a mess with Max entering the lap.
He wanted the tow, Kimi was there as well, and I did my lap a second and a half behind Max, which wasn’t ideal.” He added that the incident occurred as he entered the Parabolica, where Verstappen “just slammed on the brakes” because he did not want to be the lead car. “You can’t control what other drivers do,” Russell said. “Kimi gave me a perfect slipstream on the first run, but Max’s unexpected braking also confused Kimi about how to position himself.” Reflecting on the episode, Russell admitted that perhaps the team should have avoided the risky strategy altogether, but they were eager to extract the maximum performance from the car.
“In hindsight it might have been better not to try that, but we wanted to give it everything,” he noted. Despite the disappointment of missing out on pole, Russell remains within striking distance of the championship leader, Antonelli, and is still keen to close the 59‑point gap. He told Sky Sports F1: “I’m feeling good. The key is a clean start and a clean first lap.
If I can stay in the top three or four after the opening laps, I still have a solid chance to fight for the win. That’s the goal.” Max Verstappen, who qualified sixth, did not comment directly on the Parabolica incident, but he did discuss his own difficulties with the car’s handling during the session. He explained that a mechanical issue caused the car to behave like a “kangaroo” over the bumps and kerbs, making it jump erratically and lose ride‑control. “Something failed again on the car as soon as I went out for qualifying,” Verstappen said.
“It’s something we’re aware of and it happens more often this year, but it costs lap time in the low‑speed sections where the car starts bouncing a lot more than it should.” Verstappen added that the car had shown improvement in the final practice session, describing it as being in a “much better window.” However, without stable ride‑control, he argued that consistency was impossible: “When the car is jumping around like a kangaroo you can’t be consistent. It’s a shame not to optimise our performance.” Because Oscar Piastri received a grid‑penalty for impeding another driver, Verstappen will start the race from fifth on the grid instead of his original sixth‑place qualification. He also hinted at the need for a rapid fix to the problematic component, warning that without a solution the team would struggle to compete effectively. The weekend schedule includes a full slate of support races: the F3 Feature Race at 7:10 am, the F2 Feature Race at 8:40 am, the Porsche Supercup at 10:40 am, followed by the Italian Grand Prix itself at 2:00 pm.
The race will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 and streamed via NOW, with the option to cancel at any time. The event marks Ferrari’s home race, and fans can look forward to a dramatic showdown as the drivers contend with the unique demands of Monza’s high‑speed layout and the strategic complexities that have already shaped the qualifying session.