MEXICO CITY – Toto Wolff believes Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix will be Mercedes’ best shot at securing a win this season, but stresses that beating Max Verstappen will not be an easy task .
Verstappen edged past George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to pole position on Saturday with 0.3 seconds, although both Mercedes drivers lost after Russell made a mistake on the final lap and Hamilton suffered an engine problem that caused Power was momentarily cut out of key corners on his fastest lap.
Mercedes has failed to win a major prize under F1’s new rules this season, ending eight years of dominance in the sport.
In qualifying in Mexico City, Russell and Hamilton’s relative performance was the same as that of Verstappen all year and, with three races remaining, Wolff believes Sunday’s race will be the team’s best race to win. in 2022.
“Yes, I think so,” he told the media after qualifying. “The good thing is that in our simulation we got that way on the radar – it’s the best race – so it’s good that it correlates with the real world.
“But the most important thing is that we really have the pace and slow but sure, we will go ahead and learn the lessons for next year.”
The long straight line from the grid to Turn 1 in Mexico City could provide a chance for Russell and Hamilton to overtake and overtake Verstappen in the first corner. However, Wolff said Verstappen will remain a tough opponent to beat throughout the 71-lap race.
“I think there have been only a handful of times in my life where I have been confident, but never in Formula 1,” said Wolff. “I’m upset about not being on the post, because it will tick, but no less having Max with the top speed advantage behind us will be a problem tomorrow.
“And the second and third starts can be good and I hope we can put our noses in, or both noses, into Round 1 and disappear. It’s going to be tough for sure.
“Our long journeys [in practice] was good, but then Red Bull had a good pace on the second and third laps and our tires were degraded. So the honest answer is, I don’t know. I very much hope that we can be competitive. “
Mercedes’ sudden rise in performance over rivals is partly due to Mexico City’s altitude, more than 2,200 meters above sea level and 1,400 meters higher than any other lap on the F1 calendar. The reduction in air density means the cars generate less drag, which has been a major weakness for Mercedes this year, while the engine’s turbocharger has to spin faster to produce the same amount of power. capacity.
“For many years, Mexico was not a good race for us because of the altitude,” added Wolff. “But the power units have really given us a super powerful engine and we’re a lot less susceptible to our hard-to-tow car here, while running uphill like all the others. It’s been a better place for us in the past overall.”
