Wolff wants to beat Verstappen: 'But I don't care about race records'
F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
Max Verstappen was nowhere to be seen, while Mercedes clocked up the third fastest time thanks to George Russell. Looking purely at the results of free practice in Brazil, one might think that Mercedes has the upper hand over Red Bull Racing for the time being. However, Toto Wolff, the team boss of the German team, does not want to get too ahead of himself.
At Sky Sports, Wolff was asked how his Mercedes is doing after this one hour? "Difficult to judge. We haven't seen Verstappen. They saved the medium. That's going to be quite interesting to see why. Leaves a little bit more options. I think it was encouraging," Wolff said.
'Hamilton close to Russell'
Lewis Hamilton ended free practice well behind teammate Russell. The Briton got no further than 12th place. "No, he lost six-tenths in turn one and two. So it was pretty equal," said the Austrian team boss, who last celebrated a Grand Prix victory at Interlagos exactly a year ago.
This weekend, Wolff would like to be on the top step of the podium again, although he actually has higher goals. "Would like to win one just for our own expectations. I'm not so much into records, I like championship records, but not race-win records, but [a win] would be good for the morale, I guess."
In any case, Lewis Hamilton would love that win. Though Wolff said: "I think he wants to have a quick race car next year and just fight for the championship."