After seeing his drivers dominate qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, Mercedes AMG F1 Team principal Toto Wolff is confident that Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton will have a fair fight at the start of the race.
With the four races this season so far ending with Mercedes 1-2’s, this weekend at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya looks set to be another hard fought race between the two drivers.
Before the weekend there was an air of confidence that Ferrari would close the gap to the top with their upgrades, but the Silver Arrows have brought their own and look set to maintain their dominance.
“We’ve brought a number of upgrades to the car this weekend, so it’s good to see that we’ve made a step in the right direction.” said Wolff.
While Bottas secured pole position Wolff hinted that believes that Hamilton could have done better if it had not been for battery charging issues caused by a pitstop in Q2.
“Valtteri was in good form today and put in a very strong first lap in Q3 and deserves to be on pole. It was a bit of an unfortunate qualifying for Lewis; he couldn’t charge the battery properly because he pitted in Q2 and therefore his first run in Q3 was compromised.
“None of the drivers improved in their second run, because the track temperature had dropped and there was some dirt on the track as well.”
Looking ahead to the race, the Mercedes team are in high confidence, and while the memory of the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix where Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton collided, taking each other out of the race from the front, is still fresh in their minds, Wolff is confident that this race wont be a repeat.
“It’s good to start the race from the front row as it is difficult to overtake on this track. Our drivers both want to win, so I’m sure we’ll see a fight at the start, but I’m convinced it will be a fair.”
