Source: Mercedes-Benz Archive

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Wolff: Pretty special to finish one-two for two consecutive races

Wolff: "Pretty special" to finish one-two for two consecutive races

08-10-2018 08:05
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Nicolás Quarles van Ufford

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is a very happy bunny after another one-two finish for his team, practically wrapping up both championships, although he did add that it wasn't as easy as it looked to get that result in Japan.

The Silver Arrows were pretty much perfect at Suzuka all weekend long. From the moment the green light went on in FP1 on Friday up until the checkered flag on Sunday, the German team was the dominant force yet again, leaving both Ferrari and Red Bull in their tracks.

Lewis Hamilton qualified on pole position with teammate Valtteri Bottas closely following him in P2. They held their positions on Sunday, despite Bottas being put under some hard pressure from the charging Max Verstappen in third place.

“That was a very tense Grand Prix for us,” Wolff was quoted by TheCheckeredFlag.

“It might have looked pretty smooth from outside but within the team we were managing blisters in the tyres, some driveability issues with Lewis’ power unit and very competitive Red Bulls behind us.

“So to take a one-two for the second race in a row is pretty special – not just for the trackside team here after a tough back-to-back, but for everybody back in Brackley and Brixworth who have poured their efforts into developing this car and power unit.

“The approach will remain the same in the coming races: we will not let up one single bit when it comes to bringing more performance to the car and keep taking everything day by day.

"From here, every race is like a mini-championship and we need to keep aligning our race weekends in the same way we achieved in Sochi and Suzuka.”

With only a handful of races remaining, there is absolutely no way that Ferrari can realistically make a comeback in either championship, no matter how much anyone at Mercedes tries to talk it down. Still, it's mathematically possible though, so who knows...