Wolff squarely blames Verstappen for missing out on Italian GP Pole Position
Photo: Race Pictures
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Toto Wolff believes that Max Verstappen played a key role in missing out on pole position at Monza. According to the Mercedes team boss, Verstappen deliberately slowed so much in the decisive phase of qualifying that both Kimi Antonelli and George Russell ended up too close behind the Dutchman. He seems to think it was done on purpose.
Mercedes appeared to be one of the big favourites for pole position ahead of qualifying. In the end, pole surprisingly went to Alpine's Pierre Gasly. Wolff believes the French team deserved that shock result, but at the same time thinks there was more in it for Mercedes, especially considering how George Russell had performed. “Whoever's on pole deserves it, and I'm really happy for Alpine, that they have the car there. It was a missile on the straight,” Wolff said to Viaplay.
“For us, we were a bit unlucky. Max was really clever because he screwed the lap. He slowed down so much. Kimi was too close to Max. George was too close to Max in the lap, and that basically cost pole,” the Mercedes boss added.
Wolff was then asked whether Mercedes could have done anything differently themselves. For example, by anticipating the possibility that Verstappen would back off the pace on the preparation lap and thus create a larger gap to the Red Bull.
“Yeah, maybe try to create a bigger gap," Wolff admits. “Maybe be aware that it's Max. But, you know, at the end we tried our best.” According to Wolff, planning the right distance between the cars and the slipstream was quite a task. “More often than not, you get the whole slipstreaming part wrong. You try to do the optimum gap, and then you find out that it's so difficult to control, and that was definitely an issue today.”
Lawson also held up at Monza
Photo: Race Pictures
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While Verstappen ensured Mercedes didn’t take pole, Red Bull had completely different concerns. Liam Lawson was also held up by Oscar Piastri at Monza, while also struggling with rear-end balance issues. In that regard, Mercedes seems to be in a much better position. They may, however, be fighting for the win on Sunday with only one driver, as Kimi Antonelli is taking an engine penalty and will start from the back.
It remains to be seen who will line up behind Pierre Gasly and Russell, as Piastri has been called to the stewards for impeding Lawson. As a result, the Kiwi couldn’t improve his time enough to advance to Q3. Verstappen therefore couldn’t fight for pole, as he couldn’t get the tow from his teammate.
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