Mercedes forced to improve after Spa qualifying disappointment

Toto Wolff has revealed that Mercedes was forced into changing their approach after losing out to Ferrari at Spa. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes couldn't match Ferrari or Sebastian Vettel in Belgium but that has driven the Silver Arrows onward to find another level in the championship fight.

After qualifying in Singapore, Wolff revealed that the team had used the experience of Spa to refocus and rework the W09 and the team itself as they looked to change the course of the title fight once more, and pole position for Hamilton around a track that was widely regarded as Ferrari territory was massively satisfying for the Mercedes boss.

“I must really, really take my hat off to the work that was done in the UK, in Brackley and in Brixworth to prepare the car and the engine for this race,” said Wolff. “It was our weakest race track together with Monaco, we were really not competitive in the past.

“We found the right clues. The difficult days in Spa have given us direction and at least for a qualifying lap this team has made a major step forward today, over this weekend generally. Again it was the tough experiences from the past that showed us the way.

“In F1 man doesn’t work without machine and machine doesn’t work without man. It was teamwork. I think from Lewis’s side, it was stardust. The most epic lap I’ve ever seen from him. I never go on the radio it was the first time I went on the radio today because I didn’t see anything like this before.

“We knew what kind of split times that car was able to do and sector one and sector two when the purple times kept popping up it was surreal. That was his driving.”

If Hamilton does come out on top in Singapore, it might be a very long way back into the championship fight for Vettel and Ferrari.