© Richard Pardon for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Toto Wolff comments on Kimi Antonelli becoming the youngest polesitter in Formula 1 history, and on George Russell‘s Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying car issues.
“At Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying, Mercedes locked out the front row again, with Kimi Antonelli becoming the youngest polesitter in Formula 1 history.
“Many said: ‘The kid was too young, the kid was too young to be in a Mercedes, we should have prepared him otherwise,’” Mercedes’ team boss Toto Wolff said after the session.
“And the kid did good today! I am so happy for Kimi to be on pole.”
However, although George Russell ultimately managed to qualify in P2, he encountered a lot of car issues throughout the session.
The Briton’s car required a front-wing change between Q2 and Q3, and then on his out lap in Q3, the car stopped on the track.
He managed to start it up again, but had to crawl to the pits in third gear. Ultimately, Mercedes managed to get the car ready in time for one final run.
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“If the kit lets the driver down like on George’s side… you want to see them head to head and see what they can do,” Toto continued.
“So, it’s a shame George couldn’t do the lap. It looks like it’s electrical. We had to power cycle the car three times – it’s basically like an iPhone, switch it on, switch it off – and then the third time it went.
“I didn’t think it was going out, but then to my surprise, we still did the lap.”
As for the race tomorrow, the Austrian said:
“Let’s see how they get away from the start. The Ferraris will be pushing like crazy tomorrow, like they did today and in Melbourne.
“And it’s certainly going to be entertaining,” Wolff concluded.
