Wolff: “Leclerc is very, very impressive”

It’s a Toto wolff pragmatic that journalists had to deal with on Sunday evening in Sakhir (Bahrain). The boss of Mercedes balanced between the joy of signing a second consecutive double in as many races in 2019 and respect for the performance of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).

“We saw that motorsport can be very cruel. Today, it benefited us but the moral winner remains Charles. We have witnessed the emergence of a potential world champion. Hag certainly could have won without making his mistake. We must therefore remain humble in this victory because the result does not reflect the hierarchy of the weekend. In terms of raw rhythm, the Ferrari was going faster than the Mercedes, analyzes the Austrian.

Leclerc is very, very impressive. He has a good character, he is very humble. And it's very fast! Many other talented young drivers would have reacted much more controversially than he did. They would have expressed their frustration,” where the Monegasque remained worthy despite the engine problem having pushed him back to third place. 

The duel with the red cars has tightened considerably in the Middle East, as Toto Wolff has observed. “We were more surprised by the pace of the Ferraris in Melbourne than in Bahrain where they were very strong like in the Barcelona winter tests. 

They could put 5 tenths behind everyone with their profit in straight lines. It was therefore necessary to try to diversify strategies rather than trying to surpass them. We decided it this morning. »

As for Lewis Hamilton's victory, Toto Wolff praises his stubbornness. “Lewis didn’t give up. He fought with a weapon that was not at the level of his opponents. DRS allowed him to stay in contact with the Ferraris. His battle with Sebastian was crucial. 

If he had not overtaken him, Sebastian would have won the Grand Prix. These are the kind of moments that can determine the outcome of a race and perhaps a championship. »

Discover the analysis of the Bahrain GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2210 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.