Hamilton’s F1 Styrian GP pole lap ‘not from this world’ - Wolff

Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff has labelled Lewis Hamilton’s wet-weather pole position lap during Styrian Grand Prix qualifying as being “not from this world”. 

Hamilton was in scintillating form at the second race of the revised 2020 F1 season as he bounced back from a disappointing opening round in emphatic fashion to crush his opposition on his way to taking a dominant pole.

The six-times world champion was in a league of his own amid the treacherous conditions and stormed to pole by a huge 1.216s margin over his nearest challenger, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. 

Hamilton’s remarkable performance was praised by Mercedes chief Wolff. 

"Very rarely do you see performances that are just not from this world," he said.

"When you look at the onboard of his lap, he was balancing the car on the edge, aquaplaning, throttle control was incredible.

"I can't remember that I have seen 1.2 seconds between first and second.

"I think driver and car merge into one, where a perfect car with the tyres in the right window, and perfect drivability on the power unit come together with skill and intelligence of the racing driver. 

“Only then do you see this kind of performance."

Mercedes is confident it has got on top of the gearbox-related reliability problem that plagued both cars during last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, and hopes to avoid a repeat of the issue today.

With Verstappen joining him on the front row, Hamilton acknowledged the scale of the task that lies ahead of him if he is to open his winning account for the season. 

"I still have to do the job tomorrow and these guys are no pushover," Hamilton conceded after landing pole on Saturday. 

“So it will require a perfect job from myself and the team."