(Motorsport-Total.com) – Did Max Verstappen ensure that Pierre Gasly could secure pole position at the Formula 1 race in Monza – or rather that Mercedes driver George Russell could not? That is the “accusation” from Mercedes towards the four-time Formula 1 world champion, although “accusation” is the wrong word for it.
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Because from Mercedes’ perspective, it is more a statement that Verstappen was in the wrong place at the wrong time for the Silver Arrows and interfered with the team’s planned slipstreaming tactics.
Because Kimi Antonelli could not give teammate George Russell the planned slipstream as desired, since he caught up to the Dutchman during the warm-up lap before the Parabolica curve and had to slow down.
As a result, Russell behind him also had to slow down and lost momentum on the way towards the start-finish straight. “Max did that very cleverly, of course,” says Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff on Sky. “He let everyone catch up before the last corner.”
“That meant Kimi was too close for a good slipstream for George, and George then spent the whole lap within two seconds of Max,” he describes. Especially in the last corner, Russell lost ground “because he was simply stuck in Max’s gearbox.”
Verstappen wanted to let Antonelli pass
Verstappen had started the warm-up lap ahead of the two Mercedes and would have had no one to pull him on his fast lap. That would have put him at a disadvantage. “Before the Parabolica, Max then slammed on the brakes because he didn’t want to be the leading car,” explains Russell.
At the same time, Antonelli also did not want to pass the Red Bull. “I was told very strictly that I was not allowed to overtake,” says the championship leader, who didn’t quite know what to do at that moment. “That was of course a bit tricky because I was somehow stuck in the middle,” he says.
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In doubt, Verstappen would have fallen behind Antonelli and broken the Mercedes parade. “But then I stayed behind and tried to give George the best possible slipstream,” Antonelli recounts.
Verstappen admits that he wanted to slot in behind Antonelli at that moment, but even after that, he tried to accelerate while the engine had some misfires. “There was so much going on, it’s super complicated,” says the Dutchman.
Russell: You can’t control what others do
However, he does not hold it against Verstappen that he torpedoed Mercedes’ tactics: “These things happen,” says Russell. “You can’t control what others do. Kimi was there to give me a slipstream, which he did perfectly on the first attempt. But with Max in there, it was of course also hard for Kimi to know what to do.”
“So it was just a bit unfortunate,” says the Englishman, who lost two tenths in the first sector compared to his first Q3 lap and ultimately had to concede six hundredths of a second to Gasly.
“In hindsight, it probably would have been better not to try at all, but we wanted to put everything on one card. And still, second place is a good starting position. We are ahead of our main competitors and still have the best chances to fight for the win.”
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