Toto Wolff gives encouraging Mercedes prediction for Canadian Grand Prix

With his drivers chasing another two-car podium, Toto Wolff says he believes Mercedes “can be there” in the Canadian Grand Prix.

Last time out in Spain Lewis Hamilton and George Russell brought home the team’s first two-car podium of the season as they joined Red Bull race winner Max Verstappen inside the top three.

However, questions remained as to whether it was a breakthrough result or a one-off given Aston Martin and Ferrari’s struggles at the Barcelona circuit.

Based on Saturday’s qualifying in Montreal, though, is looks as if Mercedes are heading in the right directionwith Hamilton qualifying fourth but elevated to P3 after Nico Hulkenberg’s penalty.

Stating he hoped both he and George Russell “can move forwards” in the race, he added: “We should be in a much better position with race pace. Our race pace is often better.”

That was a sentiment echoed by Russell, who says Mercedes should be able to challenge the Aston Martin for a two-car podium.

Wolff hopes his drivers’ predictions are spot on especially having shown “competitive” pace in qualifying.

“I think we can also be there,” he said as per Motorsport.com, “we can be satisfied so far.

“Obviously the two cars, they put two consecutive laps in there at the front. And that’s pretty normal.

“I think we’ve seen in both drivers and especially Lewis in Q2 when he went straight, that would have put him fastest among the inter runners with a very, very competitive time.

“So overall, I think the speed was there considering that this is not a strong circuit for us, and it was raining.”

The team boss reckons it’s finally “coming together” for Mercedes with their B-spec W14.

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“I think we can see the positive dynamic which is cascading and transcending into the organisation,” he said.

“We feel that the car is coming together, and we see that our data yields results on track. We haven’t felt that for a long time, and this contributes to being in a good place right now.”

Wolff’s comments come after former racer turned pundit Danica Patrick spoke of her surprise that Mercedes don’t seem to have a bit more belief in their own potential.

Speaking earlier this weekend she told Sky Sports: “At the very top before FP1, I said, ‘They’re [Mercedes] not even cautiously optimistic’. I feel like it’s almost like a ‘well, let’s [not] count our chicks before they hatch’ kind of thing.”

Wolff, though, says thare optimistic, but carefully so.

“I think we can be carefully optimistic,” said the Austrian. “What we see is an upward trend. But, at the same time, you can see how vulnerable we are. Just look at FP3 where we were not having enough temperature in the tyres, and we fell off a cliff.”

Hamilton lines up third on the grid with Russell P4.