F1, Toto Wolff is lapidary on the Lewis Hamilton-Max Verstappen front row

Toto Wolff’s words after qualifying for the Hungarian GP.

After the conclusion of the Hungarian GP qualifying that saw Lewis Hamilton take first place by only three thousandths over Max Verstappen, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff spoke bluntly about the possible duel between the Englishman and the Dutchman from the early stages of the race.

“We got an extraordinary result today. Tomorrow Lewis will give everything he has to try to play it with Verstappen, but we have to be realistic: the Red Bulls are still in another category compared to everyone else,” the Austrian team principal began at the microphones of “Sky Sport F1.”

Later Toto Wolff spoke about the new qualifying format: “Yesterday we ran on medium tires and we struggled a lot. Between Friday and Saturday we worked in the simulator to find the right balance on softs. We have to continuously work on the set-up to find the ideal one. Even on Sprint Race weekends we have to deal with the problem of finding the right setup.

“With the alternating compound rule the show was very good for the crowd today, but it suffered on Friday in the first two free practice sessions. We will have to find a compromise for the future.”