Mercedes has to settle for a second starting position for driver George Russell for the Italian GP. The plan was to use Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who started at the back, in Q3 to provide a slipstream for the Brit, but at that moment Max Verstappen was driving near the two Mercedes cars. Then confusion arose, Russell explains. “Max ruined that lap for us,” Toto Wolff says meanwhile with a smile.
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It was a well-thought-out plan by Mercedes: to get Andrea Kimi Antonelli into Q3 in qualifying at Monza so he could give teammate George Russell a slipstream. Then the Brit could fight for pole position. Although he did fight for it, he fell just six hundredths short of the coveted first starting spot. This went to Pierre Gasly.
According to Russell, things went wrong at the crucial moment because Max Verstappen drove past. “It was a very messy session,” the Brit sums up his qualifying. “The car didn’t feel very good. And then in Q3 there was also some chaos when Verstappen appeared, just at the moment Kimi wanted to give me a slipstream. However, that doesn’t take anything away from Pierre, because he was already doing well for that time. Of course, it’s a shame not to be on pole yourself, but we still have a good starting position.”
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The Mercedes driver is then asked to talk more extensively about the moment with Verstappen. “It all looked good, but when we were driving to Parabolica, Max suddenly braked,” he continues. “He didn’t want to drive in front of us. You simply have no influence on what others do. Kimi was driving there to give a slipstream, and he did that wonderfully, but when Max was there, Kimi didn’t know what to do anymore either. Nevertheless, second place is fine. We have a chance to fight for the win.”
‘Max ruined our lap’
Toto Wolff is a bit less diplomatic than his driver. “Max was really clever, because he ruined that lap for us,” the team principal told Viaplay, but with a smile. “He braked so hard that Kimi got too close to Max, and George was also too close to Max on that lap. That actually cost him the pole. Maybe we should have taken a bigger lead and taken into account that it was Max.”
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