Wolff: Merc fastest of ‘F2 cars’ in Hungary

BUDAPEST, Hungary — The performance of Max Verstappen and Red Bull is in a different category compared to the rest of the Formula One field, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said on Sunday.

Verstappen won Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix 33.7 seconds ahead of his nearest rival Lando Norris, with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton a further five seconds off in fourth place.

The Dutchman’s victory was a record-breaking 12th in a row for Red Bull and extended his lead in the championship to 110 points over teammate Sergio Perez.

Wolff believes Hamilton had the potential to secure second place in Hungary had he pushed harder early in the race, but said the performance of Verstappen and Red Bull gave the true context of how far Mercedes is off the pace.

“We can talk each other up and say we could have been or would have been second, but in a way that is irrelevant because you have a car in front that is 34 seconds clear and probably he was cruising for a long time,” Wolff said “That’s the bitter reality.”

He went on to liken the gap in performance between Verstappen and the rest of the field to the gap between an F1 car and a Formula 2 car.

“We were quick in terms of the F2 pack,” Wolff added. “The F1 car won by 34 seconds.

“I think we had the second quickest car today but the result doesn’t show it. In theory we had the second quickest car and we didn’t monetise on it today, and that’s always disappointing.

“We were too careful in bringing the tyres in. After the stops we lost a lot of time.

“It paid off towards the end of the stint, because we were miles quicker than everybody else but it’s always a balance and I believe the balance was a little bit too much in terms of bringing them in.

“We have got to find out how we could have done that better.”