Mercedes’ Toto Wolff: “On days like today, you have to take it like it is”

Toto Wolff says Red Bull Racing have the advantage after Qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but his Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team will be looking to come out on top when it matters on Sunday.

Max Verstappen took pole position at the Yas Marina Circuit and will lead the field to the start on Sunday afternoon, while Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will line-up second and sixth respectively for Mercedes.

Wolff, the Team Principal of Mercedes, says they will be doing their homework overnight to ensure they give Hamilton the best chance of taking his eighth Drivers’ Championship whilst also securing an eighth consecutive Constructors’ Championship.

“On days like today, you have to take it like it is, it’s 1-0 to them, they got the tyres in the perfect window in the last run, the tow functioned flawlessly and that’s why they are on pole,” said Wolff.

“I’m happy we’ll be starting on the Medium tyre tomorrow. We will have a slight disadvantage on the start I guess, and the first six or seven laps, but we can go longer, or also go for an aggressive undercut and try to control track position.

“Overnight we’ll be running lots of programmes and algorithms to help form our strategy for tomorrow. The pace was there in practice, obviously on the long runs you don’t know, but whichever car is faster tomorrow will win the race.

“We just need to focus on that, recoup and then hopefully come out on top tomorrow. We are on the back foot and sometimes that’s not bad as a starting point.

“Lewis will be super motivated for tomorrow and just go hunting, as always. For Valtteri, the gap between P3 and P6 was all within a tenth so its unfortunate he’ll be starting in that gaggle but he just needs to make it through the first lap or two, and get back up.”