Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton were delighted with Mercedes’ 1-2 draw in qualifying for saturday’s Austrian GP. The German team was more than half a second faster than the rest of the field.
“It was a great job, I can’t say otherwise,” Bottas said in an initial reaction after qualifying. The Finn was 0.012 seconds ahead of his team-mate Hamilton. At 0.528, Max Verstappen was the best of the other drivers.
“The hole is impressive to see,” Bottas said. “I would like to thank everyone in the team. This is a good result, even if tomorrow during the race everything can be different again.”
The Red Bull Ring has been a racetrack in recent years where Mercedes have not achieved much results. Verstappen won the last two editions.
Mercedes has dominated Formula One since 2014 and has won all the world titles since this year. This year, the team devised a DAS system, a new invention that the competition does not have. A red bull racing protest against the steering was rejected by the FIA on the night of Friday to Saturday.
Hamilton praises way of working at Mercedes
Hamilton was annoyed that he narrowly failed in pole position, but also congratulated his team-mate. “Valtteri did a great job.”
“It’s a great start to the season for us,” said the six-time world champion. “Every year we show that we are the best team. I didn’t expect the hole to be that big.’
The veteran Briton praised the way Mercedes worked. “The team is very open-minded. The guys don’t just work hard, everyone dares to admit if they could have done it wrong.”
“That’s the best attitude to make progress. That’s the only way we’ll come together and be the best. We showed that again today.”
The Austrian GP starts on Sunday at 3.10pm.
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