Untelevised Toto Wolff footage reveals fist-slamming response to Russell losing Monza pole

Toto Wolff not only took his frustrations over George Russell missing pole position out on his desk at Monza, but the Mercedes team principal also hit his monitor.

Russell was the favourite to claim pole position for the Italian Grand Prix, but he lost it to Pierre Gasly after Max Verstappen inserted himself into Mercedes’ tow plan.

Toto Wolff reacts to George Russell losing Italian Grand Prix pole

Heading out for their final flying laps in Q3, Russell was behind his teammate Kimi Antonelli with the Italian, facing a back-of-the-grid start due to engine penalties, ready to give the Briton a tow.

Verstappen was ahead of the Mercedes teammates on the track, but slowed through Parabolica, with Russell claiming the Red Bull driver didn’t want to lead the queue.

Antonelli and Russell stayed behind Verstappen, but it compromised their pace. PlanetF1’s data analyst Uros Radovanovic revealed that all three started their flying laps about 3 km/h slower than on the previous run.

While Russell was able to claw back time in the second and third sectors, he lost out on pole position by 0.060s.

More from the Italian Grand Prix qualifying on PlanetF1.com

Russell ‘done over’ by Verstappen as Wolff points finger at Italian GP

Pierre Gasly reacts to ‘not a nice situation’ with shock Monza pole

“Everything was all looking fine, but then going into Parabolica, Max just slammed on the brakes,” the Briton told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media. “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. But obviously, with Max, I think it also made it difficult for Kimi to know what to do as well.

“So it was just a little bit unfortunate.”

For Wolff, though, it was more than just a little bit unfortunate.

Mercedes shared footage of the Austrian’s reaction as Russell narrowly missed out on pole position.

Captioned “the emotion of our sport”, Wolff not only slammed his fist down on the desk, but he also hit his monitor.

Asked if the screen had survived his outburst, Wolff replied: “It’s okay.

“I just cared so much for George to be on pole. He was the quickest car out there and then we got obviously compromised in the last lap.

“So, yeah, that was annoying.”

This goes out to all computer screens, we’re sorry – we just really wanted that Pole for @GeorgeRussell63

But, congratulations to @AlpineF1Team 👏 pic.twitter.com/WAfYQ8PZ0Y

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) September 5, 2026

Wolff, though, was magnanimous in defeat.

“I’m happy for Alpine,” he said. “We played a little part in there and them being on pole is something different and they’ve done a good job.”

It is not the first time, and likely not the last, that Wolff’s desk-slamming antics have made headlines.

The Mercedes team boss hit his desk at the 2019 German Grand Prix when Lewis Hamilton hit the wall, and did so again when Russell suffered a shock Q1 elimination at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read Next: Winners and losers from the 2026 Italian Grand Prix Qualifying