The reigning world champion appeared to be on the retreat against Red Bull after Max Verstappen dominated the opening practice session on Friday morning and had a lead of almost eight tenths over Lewis Hamilton.
But Hamilton struck back to beat his main title rival by just 0.075 seconds in a thrilling Friday night qualifying session to secure the top spot for F1’s new 17-lap sprint race. Team-mate Valtteri Bottas finished third, 0.194 seconds behind Hamilton’s benchmark.
Mercedes rolled out updates to its W12 car at Silverstone to narrow the gap to Red Bull after five straight defeats, but Wolff insisted the upgrade wasn’t key to his big turnaround.
“It’s good to come back, especially the pace of both drivers,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
On the subject of matching items
“Lewis would probably still be three tenths ahead if it hadn’t been for the rally in the end, so it’s good and I’m happy with the pace.
“It’s not the upgrade, I think we found parts everywhere,” he added.
On the subject of matching items
“The tires were in the right window and in the sweet spot of the car, you can see how it fluctuates, whether Verstappen is absolutely dominant in the morning and then swings the other way around.”
Mercedes is 44 points behind Red Bull in the constructors ‘standings, Hamilton 32 points behind Verstappen in the drivers’ standings is entering the 10th round of the planned 23-race season.
And Wolff said Mercedes was enjoying Red Bull’s challenge after years of domination during the V6 hybrid era.
“We see it as a test,” he explained. “We had seven championships in a row, we were never complacent, we were always humble and were afraid that someone would catch up with us.
“Then this year we suddenly find ourselves with a new set of rules that bites us more than expected, so that’s something to learn so that we’re behind.
“And all we’ve talked about in the last few years about how we would react in such a case is now the test and we can see if we do as expected or not.
“You won’t win the championship with that, but it still allows you to stay in the hunt and I’m happy with our reaction so far.”
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