Russell loses pole to Gasly after Verstappen's braking antics disrupt Mercedes qualifying plan

George Russell was left fuming after Max Verstappen’s late braking on the Monza out-lap wrecked Mercedes’ slipstream strategy in Q3 qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, handing pole position to Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

Heading into the final qualifying run, Verstappen led a three-car train with Kimi Antonelli and Russell behind him. The plan was straightforward: Antonelli, already facing a grid penalty, would act as a tow-giver and deliver Russell the best possible slipstream into the flying lap. It was working until the back straight before Parabolica, where Verstappen slowed dramatically, causing all three cars to bunch together. He then accelerated sharply just ahead of Antonelli, leaving no useful gap for the Italian to pull away and provide a tow.

Antonelli abandoned his lap entirely. Russell pressed on but spent the run uncomfortably close to the Red Bull.

“We had a bit of a mess with Verstappen entering the lap,” Russell said. “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. 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. I did my lap a second and a half behind Max, which wasn’t ideal.”

Verstappen offered a different explanation, saying he was also hunting a slipstream from Antonelli and was caught out by a power unit problem at the critical moment. “Yeah, but I was also trying to accelerate and then the engine cut out,” he said. “I had so many things going on, it’s super complicated.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was unconvinced. “Max, of course, did it very cleverly — he made everyone bunch up before the last corner,” Wolff told Sky Germany. “That meant Kimi was too close for a good slipstream for George, and George then spent the whole lap within two seconds of Max. Especially in the Parabolica, he lost out because he was simply hanging on Max’s gearbox.”

Verstappen qualified sixth and is set to gain a position on the grid ahead of Sunday’s race.