Mercedes boss Toto Wolff blames Max Verstappen for George Russell missing out on Italian GP pole to Pierre Gasly
George Russell missed out on pole as Pierre Gasly claimed a shock result for Alpine; Russell's final qualifying lap appeared to be compromised by Max Verstappen; watch the Italian Grand Prix live on Sunday at 2pm on Sky Sports F1, with build-up from 12.30pm
Saturday 5 September 2026 18:47, UK
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has claimed that George Russell missed out on pole position for the Italian Grand Prix because he "got done over" by Max Verstappen during the closing stages of qualifying at Monza.
Russell appeared to be on course to live up to his status as pole favourite, but his final flying lap was compromised by Red Bull's Verstappen slowing down in front of him and his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli.
Mercedes had placed championship leader Antonelli on track in front of Russell to give the Brit a tow, due to the fact the Italian is serving penalties for exceeding his engine-part allowance for the season and was going to start the race from the back of the grid regardless of his qualifying position.
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Russell still improved his time to go fastest but then had pole remarkably snatched away from him by Alpine's Pierre Gasly, who pulled off one of the biggest qualifying shocks in the sport's history.
Asked by Sky Sports F1 whether something had gone wrong for Russell to miss out on pole, Wolff said: "Yeah, I think at the end where he got done over by Max in the final run when launching the lap.
"It was just much too close, and that compromised the lap time eventually and that lost pole position."
Russell: It was a mess with Verstappen
With having a tow from the car in front being crucial to delivering a fast lap at Monza, Verstappen sought to force another car in front after having lost touch with the McLarens ahead of him.
As Verstappen slowed down ahead of the final corner, Antonelli passed the Red Bull, while Russell remained just behind them.
While a tow is useful, being too close to the car in front for the entire lap can also have a negative impact on performance, which Russell felt was the case.
"We had a bit of a mess with Verstappen entering the lap," Russell said. "He wanted to go for the tow, Kimi was there as well, and I did my lap a second and a half behind Max, which wasn't ideal.
Asked whether Mercedes could have done anything differently to avoid the situation, Russell replied: "I think, no, everything was all looking fine, but then going into Parabolica, Max just slammed on the brakes, and he didn't want to be the lead car.
"So, it's just one of those things. You can't control what other people do. Kimi was there to give me the slipstream, which he did perfectly on the first run, but obviously with Max, I think it also made it difficult for Kimi to know what to do as well.
"So, it was just a little bit unfortunate. In hindsight, probably would have been better off not trying this, but we wanted to give it everything."
Despite his frustration at missing out on pole, Russell remains in with a strong chance of reducing his 59-point deficit to Antonelli at the top of the standings.
He told Sky Sports F1: "I'm feeling good. I think the key is just to have a clean start, a clean first lap.
"As long as I'm in the top three or four after the first few laps, you're still within a great shot to fight for victory. That's the goal."
Verstappen: My car was jumping like a kangaroo
Verstappen didn't address the final-corner incident after qualifying, but revealed his own pace had been compromised by damage to his car, causing it to jump "like a kangaroo".
"As soon as I went out for qualifying, something failed again on the car," Verstappen told Sky Sports F1.
"It's something that we are aware of, and it happens more often in the year, but it's just costing lap time in the low-speed where the car just starts jumping around a lot more than it should do. On the bumps, the kerbs, the car's not compliant anymore.
"I was actually very happy with the car in FP3 because we took a big step forward from yesterday. The car was in a much better window, and overall I think today it was in a much better window, and overall I think today it was in a much better window.
"But when you have no ride control and the car is just jumping around like a kangaroo, you can't be consistent. It's actually a bit of a shame to not optimise our performance.
The four-time world champion qualified sixth but will move up a place to fifth on the grid due to Oscar Piastri being given a grid penalty for impeding.
On his prospects for the race, he added: "We need to be able to change whatever the part is, because otherwise it's going to be quite tough to race like that."
Sky Sports F1's Italian GP live schedule
Sunday September 6
7.10am: F3 Feature Race
8.40am: F2 Feature Race
10.40am: Porsche Supercup Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Italian GP build-up
2pm: THE ITALIAN GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Italian GP reaction
5pm: Ted's Notebook
*also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 is at Monza for Ferrari's home race at the Italian Grand Prix with Sunday's race live at 2pm on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
