F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Ferrari and Red Bull ‘pretty much where we are now’ - Wolff

Toto Wolff says the Canadian Grand Prix shows Ferrari and Red Bull are both close to the same level as Mercedes in terms of outright pace.

Lewis Hamilton won for a second consecutive race but was pushed hard by Sebastian Vettel, with the Ferrari driver finishing just five seconds adrift of the defending champion. Max Verstappen also held off Nico Rosberg in the closing stages and Wolff says the race in Montreal displayed how close the top three teams now are in terms of performance.

“After Monaco, Canada was another case of good teamwork bringing a result which could easily have gone the other way,” Wolff said. “Both drivers lost position at the start and, on the same strategy, it would have been extremely tough for Lewis to get past Sebastian.

“The speed of both the Ferrari and Red Bull is pretty much where we are now, as demonstrated by the battle between Nico and Max late in the race. We are seeing the convergence of performance between teams that naturally comes with stable regulations - and that has made the competition tougher than ever.”

Wolff says the victory in Canada is all the more satisfying with the team having delivered a “flawless” performance in support of the drivers.

“Our performance in the garage, on the pit wall and during the stops was flawless last weekend - but there are still areas we must improve. Starts are the prime example. We've had a couple of great starts this season but also a few that were not so good, which is something we need to analyse and understand.

“At one third distance this season, we are in an enviable position. But we will have to work extremely hard to maintain it. The next battle takes us to Baku and a brand new venue for Formula One, which is great for the sport. We're looking forward to the challenge of a new street circuit.”

Scene at the Canadian Grand Prix

Canadian Grand Prix - Quotes of the week

Breakfast with ... David Hobbs

Technical feature: Under the skin of the Haas VF-16

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Bearman gives harsh verdict on Sao Paulo stand-in

Oliver Bearman got quite the early morning wake-up call on Friday in Sao Paulo when…

4 hours ago

Red Bull still 'looking at the facts' regarding Perez's performance

While his team mate Max Verstappen thrilled the fans with a run from 17th on…

6 hours ago

Sad Colapinto laments two crashes in one day in Sao Paulo

Williams suffered a bruising time on Sunday in Sao Paulo, with Alex Albon unable to…

7 hours ago

McLaren: No regrets over timing of Norris pit stop in Sao Paulo GP

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has insisted that the squad has no regrets about their…

8 hours ago

Williams' Boutsen hoists the mainsail in Adelaide

On this day in 1989, Williams' Thierry Boutsen secured his second F1 win when he…

10 hours ago

Horner: Max 'answered critics' with epic Sao Paulo GP drive

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hailed Max Verstappen’s sensational Sao Paulo Grand Prix victory…

10 hours ago