Wolff reveals reason behind Russell's gap to Antonelli: 'He had no confidence'

Russell had a day to forget after qualifying on the streets of Monte Carlo. While his teammate and championship rival, Kimi Antonelli, claimed pole position, he finished around four tenths behind and will start the race from only the third row.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the session, Wolff said: "He just never had the confidence in the car. Qualifying started on a bad foot, FP3 was still very ok, and once you start to run behind the performance and you lose the confidence, it's super difficult to catch up again "I think if there was one session more he would have been there or thereabouts. But he didn't have any grip and Monaco, no grip, means you can't push it."

The current number two in the drivers' standings struggles to understand his form he explained to Sky Sports. "If I knew, I would be able to not be in that position. The start of the year was just easy. Every lap I did in practice, qualifying, it was P1 - worst case P2 - every single session. Q1, Q2, Q3."

"Last three races it's just been nowhere. Even Canada was a real fight to get a decent lap and then I just nailed it at both of those sessions but that was sort of like pulling something special out of the hat and a little bit 'lucky' to do it at the right time. But that's just where I am right now. I don't really now," Russell added.

The Briton now faces a very difficult task to close the gap to Antonelli on Sunday. He is currently 43 points behind in the standings, leaving him little room for error on the narrow streets of Monte Carlo.