Wolff had already resigned himself to pole Verstappen: “He was dominant”

Toto Wolff watched in astonishment as Max Verstappen move towards pole position, but in the end the Dutchman found himself in the wall. It shows how bizarre the sport can be at times, Mercedes team boss tells Air sports.

“Formula 1 is crazy and full of surprises,” he jubilates after qualifying. “Red Bull had a dominant package today, their car was really great. They got the tires to work after just one warm-up lap when we really struggled to find grip.”

“The pole position was practically gone,” Wolff said. “Max was half a second ahead when he passed around the last corner and hit the wall. It puts us in the front row of the grid and of course that is a huge advantage on Sunday.”

Mercedes had already suffered a loss

Wolff admits he already thought pole would go to Verstappen. “Yeah, we thought we were going to be beaten. We had to make sure to keep going and attacking. You can see with that round of Bottas that it made a big difference.”

On Sunday, he also hopes to finish ahead with the two drivers. “I hope it goes well on Sunday too, because I think Red Bull mainly focused on one lap. That’s why they warmed up the tires so quickly. If we have a little advantage on Sunday, who knows what will happen. ” happen. “‘

Mercedes had hoped to be faster

Mercedes thought he would be faster than Red Bull heading into the Saudi Arabian GP weekend, but that turns out not to be.

“We expected to be faster. We have a fast car and those quick corners seem to suit us, but as we’ve seen a number of times this season it isn’t. The United States should have been. our track but that was not the case. Then came Brazil and there we went very quickly. It’s full of surprises! “, declared the team boss.

Here’s what you need to know about the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

This year we will be driving for the first time in Saudi Arabia on the brand new Jeddah Corniche circuit. In the video below, we tell you everything you need to know about the new Formula 1 circuit.