2023-07-24 07:07:59
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes the pace of Red Bull and Max Verstappen, winners of the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix, is reducing the rest of the Formula 1 grid to “a Formula 2 plateau”.
Max Verstappen won his seventh GP in a row in Budapest, after passing the poleman Lewis Hamilton from the first corner, before building a lead of 34 seconds over Lando Norris second on arrival.
This Hungarian success, while his team-mate Sergio Pérez climbed from ninth to third place, allowed Red Bull to win a twelfth consecutive victory and break the record set by McLaren in 1988.
Faced with the level of mastery displayed by Verstappen aboard the RB19, Toto Wolff believes that the rest of the competition gives the impression of riding in another category and has split a statement for less illustrative!
“That’s where they are. It’s like a Formula 2 field against a Formula 1. They did the best job. As part of the settlement, they did the best job.”said the Austrian at the microphone of Sky Sports.
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The true level of F2
Let us have fun however, for the comparison, to recall that Jack Doohan, long race winner of F2 at the same Budapest track, set his fastest lap of 1:30.997 at the wheel of Virtuosi’s Dallara-Mecachrome this weekend.
Verstappen’s victory in Hungary also represents the biggest margin since the start of the season. It is neither Ferrari, nor Red Bull, nor Aston Martin that we find behind the Milton Keynes team, but McLaren, which for a pair of GPs appears as the second force on the board.
“It’s a meritocracy”continues Wolff, who accepts the rules of the game and takes this domination of Red Bull as a great source of motivation to draw on the resources of his team. “We are going to fight and win races and championships, but today you saw the pace that Max had, and you saw it already on the long runs on Friday.
Hamilton, who suffered from a worse start than Verstappen and the McLaren drivers, led the Mercedes team to fourth. George Russellmeanwhile, placed sixth after qualifying in 18th position.
The W14 seemed to lose its usual racing rhythm to perform better over one lap. It is also once lightened, at the end of the race, that it gave the impression of coming back to life in the last loops of the event, in particular in the hands of Lewis Hamilton, until giving the illusion of being able to threaten the last step of the podium, finally acquired by Sergio Pérez.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14
The illusion linked to Hamilton’s performance in qualifying
Asked about qualifying pace, Wolff said the Briton’s personal performance on Saturday was a big factor, but Mercedes were well and truly second to Red Bull in race pace, despite Brackley’s team only managing to “monetize” this speed.
“I think Saturday was clearly a mega lap from Lewis. We messed it up with George in qualifying. I think we had the second fastest car [dimanche], if you look at the lap time profile and also where George came back from. But we did not know how to take advantage of it. That said, you see the level Verstappen is doing his tricks at and that has to be the goal – and it’s far from it at the moment.”
Wolff added that Hamilton lost not only because of his poor start, but also because Mercedes had potentially messed up their tire preparation.
“The departure certainly played a role”he believes. “Maybe we also prepared the tires very carefully, maybe too carefully, and you can see the lap time difference towards the end.
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