Anyone watching live qualifying for the Shanghai sprint was somewhat perplexed when Lando Norris climbed to the first line of protocol, only to have his lap canceled for breaching the track limits and pole seemed to go to Lewis Hamilton, but then the stewards changed. their decision and returned the pole McLaren racer.
Toto Wolff, head of the Mercedes team, commented on Friday’s events on Sky Sports.
Q: For several minutes it looked like Lewis Hamilton would start from pole in Saturday’s sprint – do you understand why the FIA changed this decision and moved Lando back to first?
Toto Wolff: Yes, although I have not studied this situation in detail. But I have to admit that Lando’s lap where he went off track was slower, so I have no questions about the stewards’ decision.
Question: How did Lewis manage to stay ahead of George Russell, his partner? Was his wealth of experience useful in the difficult conditions in which qualifying took place?
Toto Wolff: Of course, in such conditions the pilot’s skill is primarily demonstrated, but I think it also comes down to the ability to properly warm up the tires. If the driver manages to get the tires to optimal operating temperature on the last attempt, combined with the pilot’s skill, he can achieve good lap times.
Question: What happened to Lewis after his first attempt when he returned to the pits? For some reason that set of tires wasn’t performing well enough and he decided to replace the tires?
Toto Wolff: Yes, I know these were not intentional actions. In the second part of qualifying both our cars were not competitive because the tires did not provide the necessary grip. It is generally not easy to get good grip when driving our car, so we had some problems during the first two qualifying sessions.
Q: Can you share your predictions for tomorrow’s sprint? It looks like it will be dry on Saturday. Do you have the pace to beat the McLaren car?
Toto Wolff: I think the pace on dry asphalt should be sufficient. I don’t think we can beat Red Bull, but it looks like we will face McLaren tomorrow. But to be honest, we don’t know yet how everything will turn out, because during training we received very little information about the power relations, and it may turn out that in reality they will be much faster. On the other hand, everything could end very differently…
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
