Toto Wolff vows Lewis Hamilton’s upgraded F1 car will be ‘spicy’ at Saudi Arabia GP thanks to another engine tweak
TOTO WOLFF is banking on Lewis Hamilton’s ‘spicy’ Mercedes engine to heat things up at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix as the F1 championship battle intensifies.
Hamilton’s FIFTH engine replacement this season helped him cruise to victory in Brazil last week.
And although it wasn’t used in Qatar yesterday, Hamilton still managed to steal the win, cutting rival Max Verstappen’s lead to just eight points with two races to go.
The title race could now go down to the wire and Wolff made it clear that Mercedes will unleash their engine beast in Saudi again to ensure Hamilton clinches victory.
The Mercedes supremo is also hoping Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas can capitalise off of the mean machinery to help pile the pressure on Verstappen and his Red Bull team ahead of the final race in Abu Dhabi.
Speaking after the seven-time world champion’s heroics in Qatar, an amped-up Wolff declared to Sky F1, reported by Planet F1: “Saudi should be a good track for us, but we know this year when you think it’s a good one it can turn the other way around.
“But it’s a long straight, we’ll get our spicy equipment (engine) out for Saudi Arabia that we didn’t use (in Qatar) and hopefully Valtteri (Bottas) is right up there – we need him.
“But in any case, if everyone finishes the race it will go to Abu Dhabi.”
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Mercedes’ new kit is so impressive that Wolff reckons it’s the best engine they’ve had all season.
When asked if Mercedes’ new engine was their best yet, Wolf added: “Yes, definitely. I think the car is quick on the straight and good around the corners.
“Degradation works fine – even at races in the Middle East and we have two to come of these – on old tyres.
“I think we have to push maximum attack. We have to catch up, make some points up and that’s just what we are going to do.”
Despite Hamilton winning in Qatar without his new fancy engine kit, he was given a huge boost before the race as Verstappen was slapped with a FIVE-place grid penalty for ignoring double yellow warning flags.
However, the Dutch driver still managed to battle back to second after starting in seventh and he also earned an extra point with the fastest lap.