©Mercedes
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff commended Lewis Hamilton for delivering a masterclass performance in qualifying, insisting the six-time world champion's lap was "not from this world".
Hamilton sparred with Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the final segment of Saturday's rain-impacted qualifying session, but the Mercedes charger had the last word, beating the Dutchman by a whopping 1.2s margin after executing the perfect lap.
"Very rarely do you see performances that are just not from this world," Wolff 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 driveability on the power unit come together with skill and intelligence of the racing driver.
"Only then do you see this kind of performance."
©Mercedes
Because of the perilous conditions, in terms of timing, track position and visibility, Wolff underscored the importance of the communication that took place in the session between Hamilton and Mercedes race engineer Peter Bonnington.
"[In] these conditions where you really need to be sharp to advise the drivers where the gaps are, how the weather develops, [with] drivers feeding back what he sees on the track," Wolff said.
"The intercom protocol needs to be very precise. Obviously it's of great help if engineer and driver have been working together for a long time and trust each other.
"I'm really proud and impressed how it happened today because it was about finding the right spot on the track, analysing the weather, deciding when to put the engine into recharging mode, or when to deploy the party mode, which doesn't last for long.
"That was perfectly synchronised today."
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