“He banged in lap times quicker than the leaders,” Toto Wolff feels Lewis Hamilton had the pace to ‘challenge’ Max Verstappen in Hungary

“He banged in lap times quicker than the leaders,” Toto Wolff feels Lewis Hamilton had the pace to ‘challenge’ Max Verstappen in Hungary

Lewis Hamilton

Toto Wolff after the Hungarian Grand Prix has come out and indicated that according to him Lewis Hamilton was the star of the show and could have even won the race had he not faced a DRS issue during Saturday’s Qualifying.

Moreover, Wolff is satisfied considering the team managed a double podium finish at the Hungaroring with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H16BgFe2rM4

George Russell had an almost perfect outing in Budapest where the young Brit was able to land his W13 on pole position during qualifying and almost managed a P2 before getting overtaken by Hamilton who was on younger tires.

FS Video

Wolff while dwelling over the outing of the 23-year-old said, “George had a great qualifying session with pole and drove a super solid race but he was always in the fight and therefore utilizing the tires and leaning on it a lot. Then he ran a bit out of tires at the end of the second stint.”

George Russell
George Russell

Wolff has appreciated his young driver on his mega drive and the way he was able to go tow to tow with the pacey Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

Also Read: “I don’t think we are that far behind Max,” Lewis Hamilton shows faith in W13 to challenge Max Verstappen after the summer break

Toto Wolff wanted to see the battle for the win between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen

Lewis and Max
Lewis and Max

Lewis Hamilton did not have the best of qualifying sessions in Hungary where during Q3, the DRS on his W13 was not working correctly, and was not able to make the kind of jump that Russell managed in qualifying.

Moreover, Wolff ardently believes had the 37-year-old managed to be at the top end of the race after qualifying, then he definitely would have been in a scrap for the win with Max Verstappen.

While talking about it, Wolff said, “He was a bit in the shadow and no one was looking at him and then suddenly banged in lap times quicker than the leaders. If he didn’t fail the DRS who knows? I think there would have been a fun fight for victory.”

Toto Wolff
Toto Wolff

Mercedes has been on the upward trajectory in the last few races and now with a one-month-long summer break in motion, the team is going to take time off and recharge their batteries so that they are able to pick up from where they left in Hungary, who knows they might be able to challenge Red Bull during the second leg of the 2022 F1 season.

Also Read: “We need to speak with the team,” Charles Leclerc left frustrated after yet another ‘stradegy’ at the Hungarian GP

Also Read: “Ferrari’s strategists are brilliant,” Jeremy Clarkson takes a sarcastic dig at Ferrari after ‘huge blunder’ in Hungary

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