“We have done unconventional things,” Toto Wolff opens up on how Mercedes secured that miraculous pole position at the Hungarian GP
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Toto Wolff and George Russell
Toto Wolff must be a relieved man after a scintillating qualifying session which George Russell clinch a shock pole from right under Carlos Sainz’s nose. It was supposed to be a weekend dominated by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz because of the tight layout of the track which would help Ferrari’s higher downforce set up. But, what happened in the last few minutes of the session could not have been scripted.
There were four drivers who had fresher soft tyres at their disposal, which included Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso. The fight was expected to be between these four drivers but George Russell had other other ideas. After Charles Leclerc failing to beat Carlos Sainz’s time and Max Verstappen having engine problems, it looked like a mere formality for the Spaniard.
But, George Russell brought out the Mr. Saturday in him and stitched together a flawless lap to secure his first pole of his career. Toto Wolff was ecstatic by result achieved by Mercedes after what has been a chaotic start to the season. Mercedes’ Team principal thanked his crew for constantly trying out new things, like trying out a new floor at the British GP without even evaluating in the windtunnel.
Toto Wolff reveals the reason behind Mercedes’ success the Hungaroring
The German believes Mercedes has done a terrific job to recover after being at sixes and sevens in the first half of the season. He said, “This season, we have done unconventional things. I remember having a chat with a very clever lady in aerodynamics and she said: ‘if you would have told me last year that we’re putting a floor on the car that we haven’t run in the windtunnel, I would have said we are never going to do this.’ We did and everybody was proud of the results.”
“It’s been same thing every weekend, and more so on Friday and Saturday here. We’ve tried things.”
“But to be honest, it’s a painful exercise this year. And today is one of the days where all tendencies of the season, where we’ve been really bad in qualifying, but performing well on the Sunday, we’ve actually unlocked some potential in the car.”
Toto Wolff and Mercedes must be really proud of the job they have been able to do despite criticism flying at them from all directions. But, they can’t afford to take their eye off the ball or it could prove costly.
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Shubham Bajpai
(776 Articles Published)