F1: Verstappen "on another level"

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says Max Verstappen and Red Bull are just too good for them to beat.

Lewis Hamilton was third-fastest in final practice for the Spanish GP behind the two Red Bulls. Sergio Perez choked in qualifying, opening the door for a front row spot for Hamilton, but Hamilton choked in qualifying too and ended up 5th.

“On my final lap, I think I was on the front-row all the way until turn 10. I got on the power and the car just snapped into oversteer; I will have to check, but I think that’s where I lost two tenths,” said Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton ponders his choke on his final lap in Q3 in qualifying for the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix, Saturday – Stephen Reuss

“That’s why the disappointment is big because we expected more,” Wolff continued. “Having said that, if you look at the gaps it was very, very compressed with everyone. You can get it wrong easily.”

“You can see that Leclerc is out in Q1, Perez is out in Q2, so that’s a bit of a mystery today,” he added. “The wind changed 180 degrees and some were caught out, maybe, because of that.”

The team is gaining confidence in the changes it made to the car at the last race, said Wolff. “I believe in the package.

“It is a new baseline, it is from where we can continue to work on with a certain stability without needing to questions certain parts of the car, whether it’s the bodywork, the floor, the front suspension that is now established. This is what we are taking forward now.”

Verstappen was able to abandon his final timed lap but still took pole position by almost half a second from Carlos Sainz Jnr.

We suspect he could have gotten down into the 1m11s bracket, but now we will never know.

Wolff admitted he “simply doesn’t know” how far ahead the Red Bull at the hands of Verstappen is.

“I think Verstappen is just on a different level. “It pisses me off to say that, but that is the reality.”

Toto Wolff pissed off that Max Verstappen destroys them week-in and week-out.

It pisses him off even more because Wolff wanted to sign Verstappen, and he refused after Mercedes played Verstappen dirty in 2021.

“There is a meritocracy, they’ve just done the best job, the driver’s driving excellent and they are just far away. And that is something which only we have in our hands to get under control.”