Toto Wolff admits Red Bull taught Mercedes ‘a lesson’ in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying
Max Verstappen landed the first blow of what is a crucial weekend by securing pole position for Sunday's race ahead of title rival Lewis Hamilton
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Toto Wolff has admitted Red Bull taught Mercedes a "lesson" in qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen landed the first blow of what is a crucial weekend by securing pole position for Sunday's race ahead of title rival Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen, who will claim a first world title if he finishes ahead of Hamilton at the Yas Marina Circuit, expertly utilised a tow in the slipstream of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez to set an unassailable time of one minute 22.109 seconds.
Hamilton was unable to best it leaving Mercedes team chief Wolff grudgingly impressed.
"We generally have the belief that the slipstreaming, what we gain on the straights you lose in the corners because you're simply too close and it's very difficult to orchestrate," he said.
"I think the Red Bulls did it flawlessly today and credit to them how they did it, and that gave them an advantage, but that's not the reason why we're behind.
"We simply had no pace, not enough pace and Verstappen late on, I believe they were not slipstreaming and still fast. A lesson to learn is that it's something we should consider in the future but today it's basically 1-0 to them."
Hamilton was ultimately pleased to qualify second after conceding his Mercedes could not match Verstappen's run with the Brit also joking he was pleased to know where his rival would be given the suggestions he could be run off the track.
"Max did a great lap today so we just couldn't compete with that time at the end. It was looking really strong in practice," he said.
"We couldn't answer that lap, it was a fantastic lap from him, but we are in a good position. I couldn't beat that time he did today and he fully deserved the pole. I'm grateful I can see where he is.
"The car was good, Max did a great job on that final lap. Generally, through practice and into qualifying, the car felt solid. The last two laps weren't easy...I definitely can't complain, but of course we wish we were a bit quicker today."
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