Toto Wolff (Mercedes): Is second on the grid better for Kimi Antonelli than pole position?

Things can get pretty crazy in Formula 1! Mercedes topped the timesheets in all three practice sessions at the Madring. McLaren, and Lando Norris in particular, struggled for the most part. Then came McLaren’s comeback in qualifying, with Norris racing to pole position at lightning speed, pushing championship leader Kimi Antonelli down to second on the grid.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff speaking on Sky: “It was incredibly close, and that’s what makes the sport so interesting.” Norris’s pole was truly unexpected. In FP2, he effectively missed the entire session. After two untimed laps following a run-off, his gearbox had to be changed. He lost a valuable 60 minutes of practice time. In FP1 he had finished sixth, then improved significantly to fourth in FP3 on Saturday. Now Norris’s superb lap in qualifying and pole position! Toto Wolff even said: “If he hadn’t made that mistake in the final corner, he’d have been three or four tenths faster. That was completely unexpected. Hats off to him!”

Russell lacked confidence

And what about his own team? Kimi Antonelli narrowly missed out on pole position, finishing second, whilst George Russell came sixth. In FP1 on Friday afternoon, the Briton had actually been the fastest. Wolff on Russell: “George never drove with enough confidence. We changed the set-up during the session. It’s strange, because he was right up there before that.”

Antonelli put in a strong performance, but it wasn’t quite enough. Wolff: “That was a great lap from Kimi. Small mistakes in Turn 13 – that’s a matter of tenths. But even so, it probably wouldn’t have been enough for pole.”

Is second on the grid better than pole?

And what are the prospects for the Grand Prix? Overtaking opportunities are scarce – all the drivers agree on that. And what about the strategy? Wolff with a laugh: “Anything between a one-stop and a six-stop strategy. We don’t know exactly.” But second on the grid instead of pole might not be such a bad thing after all. Wolff: “Perhaps the good thing is that, in Formula 2 and Formula 3, starting from second on the grid was the better starting position.” 200 metres after the start/finish line, there’s a left-right combination.

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