Toto Wolff Explains Why Red Bull’s Championship Lead ‘Suits’ Mercedes in F1 Title Fight

After the Monaco Grand Prix, the Red Bull team and Max Verstappen seized victory. In the process, they took over the lead in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. Surprisingly, the Mercedes team are not hitting the panic button just yet, but are relishing the chance to chase.

According to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, “But if you can’t make any more mistakes because Lewis is at the height of his capabilities, then there is a new challenge that he has not yet seen in Formula 1. It is much easier to be a hunter. That is why the situation suits us.

“Red Bull cannot deny the role of favorites. That is the reality,” he continued. “Max should have won in Bahrain if Lewis hadn’t driven so incredibly.”

What else did the Mercedes Team Principal say?

The Austrian recalled the Bahrain Grand Prix. Over there, Verstappen was clearly faster, but he simply ran out of time. On the other end of the scale, if the Dutchman had waited half a lap before attempting to overtake, then Hamilton would have won.

Around that time, Max Verstappen swept past the Mercedes driver to snatch the lead. The bad news was that he was forced to go off the track while overtaking.

In order to avoid a penalty, he surrendered the position back to the defending champion. Sadly, once Hamilton got the lead again, he took off, and that was the last time anyone got close to him.

Toto Wolff even brought up the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola. In that situation, the Dutch driver made a mistake in the qualifying session and had his lap time deleted.

As a result, Hamilton was able to capitalize in qualifying; although Verstappen got him back in the race, that is another story.

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