Toto Wolff admits Max Verstappen was ‘too quick’ for Mercedes in battle for Sprint pole at Austrian GP

Toto Wolff claimed that Max Verstappen was simply too quick for Mercedes in Sprint Qualifying at the Red Bull Ring.

Toto Wolff admits Max Verstappen was ‘too quick’ for Mercedes in battle for Sprint pole at Austrian GP

Toto Wolff and Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

The Austrian GP weekend is underway. Red Bull’s home race is the third Sprint weekend of the season. Max Verstappen faced stiff competition from rivals heading into this weekend. However, the Dutch driver managed to outperform the rest of the paddock to take pole position for the Sprint race. Now, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has admitted that the Silver Arrows lacked pace against the 26-year-old.

Firstly, the Austrian billionaire acknowledged that he was happy to be at his home race of the season as well. Toto Wolff claimed that Mercedes was confident over potentially challenging Max Verstappen for pole position in Sprint Qualifying.

It's good to be at home. FP1 went well. We thought we can fight for pole.
Toto Wolff said
YouTube video

However, Wolff admitted that the reigning world champion was simply too quick for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell during the session, As Max Verstappen went pushed himself to the limit to take Sprint pole. Moreover, Toto Wolff highlighted that McLaren too put in some impressive laps, allowing the Woking-based team to be right behind the Dutchman.

FS Video
Verstappen was much too quick and the McLarens put good laps in.
Toto Wolff confessed

Toto Wolff claims Lewis Hamilton’s lap was ‘like a rally’

Lewis Hamilton had an underwhelming outing in Friday. The seven-time world champion was no match to Max Verstappen or even the two McLarens. Toto Wolff pinpointed Hamilton’s poor start on his run where the Briton went off-track. Wolff labeled it as a ‘rally-like lap,’ which ended the prospects of the 39-year-old for the session.

The run to turn one was like a rally, and you can't recover from that (for Lewis Hamilton).
Toto Wolff explained
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton (Via: Imago)

Additionally, Toto Wolff asserted that the Sprint race on Saturday is unlikely to witness much on-track action. The Mercedes team boss claimed that the race results would perhaps be the same as the Sprint Qualifying positions today. As drivers potentially avoid risks to keep their cars intact for Qualifying for the main race.

If you look at the pecking order from Quali, that would be the order for the (Sprint) race.
Toto Wolff stated

Certainly, Toto Wolff’s squad has work to do after Sprint Qualifying. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell would be looking to make gains in the Sprint race on Saturday. However, the Silver Arrows face an uphill battle to try and defeat the likes of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris over the course of the weekend.

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