Toto Wolff brings Lewis Hamilton and George Russell back down to earth

Formula One preview: A lap of the Australian Grand Prix

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was quick to play down the idea of Lewis Hamilton or George Russell beating Max Verstappen at the Australian Grand Prix in spite of the team’s strong showing in qualifying on Saturday morning. The Silver Arrows were not expecting to challenge for the top positions in Melbourne but managed to get themselves on the front row of the grid, with Russell set to line up in second place before the five red lights go out on Sunday.

It was also an encouraging session for Hamilton, who came home in third despite complaining about the feel of his Mercedes car after a disappointing day on Friday. The 38-year-old insisted after qualifying that he will be aiming to win his first Grand Prix since 2021 over the course of Sunday’s race, although Wolff later suggested that Verstappen will simply be too quick for Mercedes to mount a genuine push for victory.

“[The car] was nice, we just got it together now over the weekend,” the Silver Arrows boss told Sky Sports F1. “We just grinded away with putting performance in the car in terms of the right mechanical set p and I am happy.

“I think we learnt through the session and we have been open minded and we changed the plan. I think it is good starting second and third. It has been a while since we had no one in front of our line in P2.

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“We will just try to make the best out of it. Verstappen is in a league of his own but maybe we can then slot in. We needed a little bit of happiness and at least for the Saturday today we got some of that.”

It remains to be seen whether Mercedes will be able to maintain their positive momentum by claiming their first podium finish of the year at the Australian Grand Prix, with Russell and Hamilton well-placed to pick up a welcome haul of points if they manage to stay on Verstappen’s tail over the course of the 58-lap contest.

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Hamilton was quick to congratulate his Mercedes colleagues in his post-qualifying interview as he ran the rule over a productive session for the Silver Arrows, saying: “This is totally unexpected, really proud of the team. George did an amazing job there today so for us to be up on the front two rows in honestly a dream for us.

“We are all working as hard as we can to get right back up to the front so to be this close to Red Bull is incredible. Hopefully tomorrow we can give them a run for their money and we hope the weather is good. I am super grateful for this position and I am just going to work as hard as I can tomorrow.”

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