Toto Wolff hails “on merit” British GP pole | “High expectations” for next upgrades

Toto Wolff hailed Mercedes’ 1-2 finish in F1 qualifying for the British Grand Prix as “incredible” as his team secured pole position “on merit” at Silverstone.

Mercedes secured their first front-row lockout since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix as George Russell secured pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

The team had shown great pace in the wet this weekend but their dry pace was a mystery.

Reflecting on Mercedes’ pole at Silverstone, Wolff told Sky Sports: “It sounds incredible. You mention the grand prix winner from Austria and now we have a front-row lockout.

“Who would have thought that a few months ago? Not so. Maybe also we are thinking about karma.

“You don’t want to get ahead of yourself just because you’re doing these first good steps, and the same as well for tomorrow.”

Wolff conceded that Mercedes were hoping for wet weather after performing well in FP3.

"We were hoping for wet when we went so well in FP3 but also now, that was really positive to see,” he added. “I think the weather helps us. It’s British weather and we want to keep that for the rest of the summer wherever we go.

“At the end here, I’m happy that we were able to do it honestly and on merit, but we mustn’t praise the day before the evening."

Mercedes have enjoyed a remarkable resurgence in recent races after a poor start to the year.

Up until Canada last month, Mercedes hadn’t finished on the podium, making it their worst start to a campaign since over a decade.

Wolff revealed that Mercedes have found a clear “direction” with their car development, teasing their next upgrades which will be introduced in Hungary and Belgium.

“It’s exciting,” he added. “What we have struggled all over the last two years is to find direction. We had a good weekend and then a worse one. Kind of didn’t make sense. We have that direction before Imola and Imola is the first time the car did what we expected to do without being on pace yet. Every weekend we have been able to put new parts on the car, learn what it’s doing.

“We’re going to continue with that. We have high expectations for everything that’s going to go on the car in Budapest and Spa.”