Verstappen ruthless toward Russell: 'He'll be scratching his head for a bit'

Antonelli took pole position on Saturday for the Monaco Grand Prix, while Russell had to settle for sixth place. With that, the Italian delivered another strong result in an F1 season in which he has so far set the tone at Mercedes, as well as in the championship.

Asked about Antonelli’s performance, Verstappen praised the youngster to, among others, GPblog. "Very good. He’s doing what he needs to do, absolutely," the four-time world champion said, before taking a swipe at Russell: "Especially compared to his teammate. He’ll be scratching his head a bit."

Verstappen himself enjoyed a much more positive qualifying. Ahead of the weekend, the Dutchman had tempered expectations and pointed to Ferrari as the favorite for pole position, a view shared by many. After the third practice session, Red Bull Racing also indicated they were struggling with setup issues.

Even so, Verstappen was particularly competitive in qualifying. In Q2 he even set the fastest time of the session, before ultimately finishing second in Q3, just a few hundredths behind Antonelli. Afterwards, Verstappen admitted that he would have signed immediately in advance for a spot on the front row.

After qualifying, Russell himself admitted that he currently doesn’t understand why he’s struggling so much to match his teammate’s pace. While the Brit started the season as one of the strongest drivers on the grid and the clear favorite for the world title, that picture has changed over the past weeks.

According to Russell, it felt at the beginning of the year like everything was coming naturally. In practice and qualifying he was almost constantly at the front. Over the past three race weekends, that has been completely different, according to the Mercedes driver. He says the new Formula 1 car suits his natural driving style less well than last year. He also pointed to the differences between his own style and Antonelli’s, who, according to the Brit, seems to thrive with the current car.

With a starting spot alongside Antonelli, Verstappen will have an immediate chance on Sunday to put the Mercedes driver under pressure. Meanwhile, Russell will have to start the race from sixth place.