F1 News
Wolff: "There were already weekends that we didn't use 'party' mode"
- GPblog.com
The Italian Grand Prix is the first race weekend in which the special engine modes are forbidden during qualification, the so-called party mode. All teams eagerly awaited how this would shake up the field on Saturday. However, that turned out to be rather disappointing.
If you look at the results of the qualification for the Italian Grand Prix, you will not immediately see the effect of this ban. What they will certainly not see is some disadvantage that Mercedes will suffer as a result, something that was predicted by many beforehand. Team boss Toto Wolff explains why to Motorsport.com.
Lobby' against Mercedes not successful according to Wolff
"This 'lobbying' against our qualification mode came about long before the new directives were introduced. We have, of course, already adjusted our development in that direction. The people who insisted on this change have not done a great job today".
So the fact that Mercedes seems to be as dominant in Monza as it has been in previous races is due to the fact that the team was already taking this change into account. For example, did they still use party fashion at Spa-Francorchamps? "In Belgium we did, but before that there were weekends when we did not use it."