While Mercedes have collected their fair share of pole positions over the years – having achieved this a whopping 134 times since returning to F1 as a constructor in 2010 – Wolff admitted that Russell’s P1 in Canada ranked as one of the best.
“[It’s] right up there because if you look at the competitive field, with Max on the medium [tyre] as well, the McLarens, the Ferraris strong, and he was able to pull a lap off,” said Wolff. “I think he was the only one in the 1m 10s. Very, very, very strong lap from him.”
READ MORE: Russell hails Canada pole lap as ‘one of the most exhilarating of my life’ as he looks ahead to fight with Verstappen
In terms of whether the lap came to Russell through the session or if the squad had been making adjustments too, the Team Principal explained: “We were so competitive in the free practice sessions that we were almost a bit surprised.
“At the beginning of Qualifying it wasn’t coming easy, and then on the last two runs on the soft [tyre] it just kept coming, and on the medium you could see, I guess as a driver you almost come into this buzz within yourself. The delta time was going quicker and quicker, so it was a mega lap.”
