The difference between Hamilton and Bottas does not come from the Mercedes in Baku

Bottas finished 10th in today’s qualifying while Lewis Hamilton was able to position himself second, behind poleman Charles Leclerc. According to Toto Wolff, this difference in position this weekend does not come from the car and the team did not seek to favor one driver over the other: « Since the start of the season, we have been letting our drivers take turns choosing whether they start first or second in qualifying and this Grand Prix it was Lewis’s turn and he apparently chose to start behind Bottas.

In FP3, we worked on a research project and we did not try to show our best performances. We tested quite opposite things which eventually showed opposite results. We wanted feedback from the drivers to position the car better. It was the last run in FP3 where we were able to confirm the progress.

Indeed, the Mercedes was configured differently for the two drivers during qualifying. Bottas had more downforce than Hamilton.

« I don’t think it was a big disparity in qualifications. Tomorrow it could have an effect. The reason is that the car was difficult to drive all weekend and Lewis found confidence in qualifying, while Valtteri had less. It’s complicated for us here and Valtteri had confidence in Monaco, while Hamilton had less. The wings don’t explain anything about the difference in position today.

Ferrari has signed the pole position with Charles Leclerc and Sainz is 5th. The Italian team has found its form since Monaco and this could worry Mercedes: One must always be wary of the competition. They are starting to go fast and we can clearly see a step forward in the second sector, which is what we saw in Monaco as well. We will see what their performance is tomorrow.

The Mercedes is indeed not the most comfortable car on urban circuits. Ensuring when you are lagging behind is a crucial thing to win a championship that promises to be tighter than in previous years.

« It is satisfying [to see Hamilton 2nd] but rather as it shows that we learn from our mistakes and we continue to learn this weekend. The championship is going to be long and we learn from these circuits where we are less good.

In Monaco, Bottas experienced an issue in the pit stop: We must avoid problems like in Monaco. We have to make sure not to lose too much and try to stay glued in front. It’s weekend by weekend and I haven’t even looked at the constructor championship this season.

« The car was performing well yesterday on long stints and we are able to manage the tires well and be fast on the straight line. So obviously, these are advantages for us for tomorrow but we still have 1h30 left to finish the race so… »