Toto Wolff drops first W15 clue behind surprise Las Vegas victory

Toto Wolff admits cold favoured Mercedes W15 at Las Vegas GP

Despite an inconsistent second half of the season, the W15 emerged as the class of the field in Vegas as Russell dominated from pole position to claim a third career victory.

Hamilton, meanwhile, recovered from a disappointing 10th place in qualifying to seal Mercedes’ first one-two finish since the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Russell admitted Mercedes’ dominance in Vegas had come as “a real surprise”, telling media including PlanetF1.com: “It’s been a dream of a weekend.

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“I don’t know how we’ve been so quick, but I’m just riding this wave right now.”

Hamilton, meanwhile, conceded that Mercedes “don’t know why we were so quick” last weekend, revealing the W15 was “the best the car’s ever felt” in Vegas.

Mercedes’ ability to quickly generate good tyre temperature has been widely credited for the team’s performance, with the W15 also excelling in cooler conditions earlier this season in Britain and Belgium, both races won by Hamilton.

Wolff has confirmed that the cold temperatures did indeed play a part in the car’s surprise surge in Vegas.

And he is not ruling out a repeat performance in Qatar this weekend, with the fast and flowing nature similar to Silverstone and Spa.

He said: The races in Las Vegas and Qatar couldn’t be more different.

“The Lusail International Circuit has many high-speed sections and few, if any, big braking zones. Despite going there later in the calendar than last year, it will still be very warm.

“That is in contrast to the cool conditions and many slow speed sections of Las Vegas. Nevertheless, we are aiming for another strong showing this weekend.

“The W15 has looked more at home at circuits with lots of high-speed corners, such as Silverstone or Spa.

“We certainly benefited from the night-time cold in Las Vegas, but the layout in Qatar should be more favourable to the strengths of our car.

“We know our competitors will be stronger than they were last weekend, but we will be aiming to get the car in a good window once again and be in the fight at the front.”

Wolff went on to describe Las Vegas as the “highlight result” Mercedes had been seeking after a disappointing second half of the F1 2024, with the team unable to build on their run of three victories in the four races leading into the summer break.

He said: “The team did a great job across the three days in the United States. We were quick throughout and executed well on Saturday night.

“George controlled the race from pole position, drove superbly and had pace in hand to spare.

“Lewis meanwhile put in a stellar comeback from P10, cutting his way through the field to P2 to secure the top two steps of the podium for the team.

“A highlight result is exactly what we wanted at the end of the season and it is well deserved given the hard work and determination everyone has shown in the second half of the year.”

Wolff’s comments come after Martin Brundle dismissed Hamilton’s claim that he would have “breezed” to victory in Vegas with a higher grid position, arguing there was “no doubt” that Russell had more pace to protect the lead if required.

Writing in his post-race Sky F1 column, Brundle said: “Hamilton had looked fast, albeit with a few trips up the escape road here and there.

“Sadly for him he had two poor laps in final qualifying when the back end stepped out and he would start a lowly 10th.

“He said post-race that had he started at the front he would have breezed the race, which surprised Russell a little. There’s no doubt Russell had more pace if he’d needed it.

“However, it was a standout drive from Lewis, picking his way through serious contenders up into second place and finishing just seven seconds behind at the flag.

“The fans rightly voted him Driver of the Day and he answered some questions a few have been throwing at him lately about being over the hill.”