Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff claims that the Belgian GP qualifying was “the worst I had in 10 years”.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were 7th and 8th respectively in qualifying. Hamilton’s Q3 lap time was 1.8 seconds slower than Max Verstappen’s, while Russell was 2.1 seconds away from P1.
Nevertheless, they will start the race 4th and 5th as several drivers in front have grid penalties. Despite better starting positions for the Silver Arrows, Wolff is not happy with the performance.
“You can’t be on pole three weeks before, albeit for very different conditions, different track, and then be 1.8 seconds off the pace at the next one. So there’s something which we totally don’t understand, or seem to get right,” he commented.
“Clearly, Red Bull is here in a league of their own, as the next Ferrari is eight-tenths off. But that is no consolation.
“It’s for me the worst qualifying session that I had in 10 years. And irrespective of what positions we’re going to start tomorrow [on Sunday], being on pole the previous weekend and three weeks later being nowhere, it’s just not acceptable for ourselves.”
