Mercedes 'vulnerable' on the opening lap of F1 Belgian GP - Wolff

Toto Wolff says Mercedes is prepared to be attacked by Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap of Formula 1's Belgian Grand Prix given their superior straight-line speed performance.

Mercedes secured yet another front row lock-out in 2020 but the run down the Kemmel Straight into Les Combes on the opening lap means the leading cars are vulnerable to those behind.

This weekend, Mercedes has opted to run considerably more downforce - meaning it is fast in the twisty, middle sector but slower on the straights.

With Verstappen and Ricciardo lining up behind on the grid - with Ricciardo consistently setting the fastest times in sector one - Wolff is wary of the threat they pose on the opening lap.

“I think overall the qualifying result shows that we had the quickest car today over one lap and hopefully we can maintain that for the race,” Wolff said. “What you say is absolutely true, of course you’re quite vulnerable particularly on the straight into Turn 5.

“Max is on pretty high downforce as well but maybe a little bit less than us but the really interesting car is Ricciardo who runs a low downforce configuration where he has been far the quickest on the straight and I believe we could have a situation some years ago with Force India - a couple of cars will try to make into Turn 1 and that will then be interesting to see how it plays out with strategy.”

Bottas hasn’t won since the opening-race in Austria and the Finn also sees the run down to Les Combes as the best opportunity to get ahead of his team-mate.

“Yeah, of course I need to attack if I still want to keep the title hopes there. It’s not over until it’s over and I’m definitely going to go for it. The first lap is a great opportunity because here the racing is always pretty good. I know already there will be opportunities to do it.”