General
Wolff sees Verstappen beaten, but not by Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished in P6 and P8, respectively, in qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix. Toto Wolff is reasonably satisfied, although he thinks there might have been more in it.
Goes to the details in Mexico
"What you see is the margins are so fine. The Ferraris came out of nowhere," Wolff observed for the Sky Sports cameras. "It's about getting the out laps right. Two or three seconds slower or faster [in your outlap], and suddenly you have a decent lap time. It's almost incalculable. The tyres are so fragile, and the ones that get bring it to the point are just quick."
The Mercedes team boss also thinks he knows why Leclerc suddenly took pole position, and Carlos Sainz also finished ahead of Verstappen in qualifying. "The Ferraris jumped massively from Q2 to Q3. Both of them had a fantastic Sector 1 because they got the outlaps right. We were maybe a tiny bit too slow and a little bit cold, and that's why the times didn't come together. But we are talking fine margins, it's two-tenths."
Hamilton may still drop down the starting grid. The seven-time world champion overtook another driver during a yellow flag, something the regulations do not allow.