Toto Wolff sees Red Bull looming large in Mercedes' mirrors in the Constructors' title fight. Photo by: RacePictures

Wolff shares McLaren's 'Verstappen the point machine' fears

12:09, 24 Sep

byNorberto Mujica

Mercedes team principal and CEO predicts a Singapore Grand Prix tussle with Ferrari back in contention at the top and wary of Max Verstappen, the "point machine."

George Russell finished P2 in Baku. Photo: RacePictures

I mean, it's a tough fight. Since we scored some solid points today and Max is anyway the point machine.

- Toto Wolff

Mercedes, with George Russell's P2 and Andrea Kimi Antonelli's P4 in Baku, jumped ahead of Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship, but Wolff is sure the fight is far from over, particularly with Red Bull Racing seemingly joining the fray off the back of Verstappen's recent consecutive wins.

"I mean, it's a tough fight," Wolff said. "Since we scored some solid points today and Max is anyway the point machine.

"Singapore, [will be] a completely different game. Track layout is maybe not too dissimilar, but I've no doubt that the Ferraris, you know, after soft showing this weekend, and McLaren will be very strong."

With Oscar Piastri's lap one crash, Wolff thought the Constructors' Championship battle for P2 had been blown open again, but the Mercedes W16's performance wasn't up to the task of challenging Verstappen's RB21.

"Actually, I thought with Oscar crashing, I thought, 'well, the championship is open again.' But then the performance wasn't there.

Russell and Antonelli experienced a near-miss moment as well, which was also put forth to Wolff.

"As to our two [drivers], sometimes when you're close next to each other, these things can happen. I think it was an okay situation.

"There wasn't any ill intent from Kimi to push him out. He left the door a bit open, but obviously George had to back out of it just to not risk a collision," Wolff concluded.

The fight in both championships heats up

Whilst McLaren are clear ahead of their rivals, Mercedes is only four points ahead of Ferrari and 18 in front of Red Bull.

In the Drivers' Standings, no Mercedes driver is as close as they need to be to championship leader Piastri to actually mount an attack.

Nevertheless, Verstappen in his Red Bull has cut a chunk of 35 points off the McLaren driver's lead in the last two race weekends, which has put the Woking-based team on high alert.

GPblog's latest Paddock Update

Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the F1 paddock? Then GPblog's F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog's YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.