Wolff: “I'd rather have two cars fighting for pole in the wall than one car in eighth”

On the lands of Red Bull, the Austrian Grand Prix began with resounding losses for the former number 1 team of the Formula 1, Mercedes. Victims of accidents in qualifying Friday July 8, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton forced the mechanics to spend the night repairing their car respective, with a mandatory chassis change for the seven-time English world champion.

Rather than overwhelming its pilots, Toto wolff was satisfied with the progress shown by the Mercedes W13 on the Red Bull Ring. “The car is still difficult to drive and now that we can fight for the top positions, I'm really happy to see that my drivers are attacking,” said the Silver Arrows team principal.

“Lewis, the corner before his exit, was going 10 km/h faster than before. Then he also took 10 km/h more at turn 7 and did not take the corner correctly. George's accident (Russell) was similar. You saw that he was ahead of his time. It doesn't matter whether there was a side wind, because I think the takeaway from these tests is that the Mercedes is difficult to drive, but it is faster now and for me that is quite satisfying. »

The Mercedes boss remembers that for several seasons, his mounts have rarely been comfortable in the hills of Styria, leaving the outposts to Red Bull and Ferrari. “It’s on a circuit where our car really wasn’t comfortable before. It is therefore an improvement that we note this weekend. I'd rather have two cars fighting for pole in the wall than one car that's eighth and driven by a truck driver. »

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