Wolff expresses himself poetically: 'The potential of the car was awakened'

For many, it came as a big surprise that Mercedes were best of all in qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix. It also raises questions, as Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen looked set for a dominant weekend. Both teams, however, are saying the same thing about the reason for the turnaround.

Both teams concluded that the warm-up lap were crucial, reports Auto, Motor und Sport. "At the beginning of the lap the front tyres were too cold and at the end of the lap the rear tyres were too hot," summarises Helmut Marko.

Warm-up lap crucial according to Verstappen

Verstappen also hinted at what the problem might have been: "We need to look at our warm-up laps. Maybe something went wrong there", says the Dutchman.

Mercedes engineers confirmed. "The out lap was crucial. We did that better in qualifying than before," revealed the German racing stable. Team boss Toto Wolff expressed himself poetically: "The changed set-up and the modified warm-up laps have awakened the potential of the car."