How Wolff reacted to Norris' reinstated lap time which demoted Hamilton

For a moment Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton thought they had the sprint pole in China, but mere moments later it turned out to be second place after all. Toto Wolff says he understands the decision to declare Norris as the fastest in the sprint shootout.

Wolff says he understands why Norris got his time back. "I haven't seen the detail, I've just seen 'four tyres off track' but honestly he was probably slower, so would have gone even faster anyway," the team boss told Sky Sports. The FIA previously explained to this website why the McLaren driver's time was initially deleted but was eventually given back.

Hamilton then improved. "It shows it's about tyre preparation. We did the right thing on the final run. The tyres were in the sweet spot, combined with great driving, which made the time."

Mercedes wants to fight with McLaren

Hamilton himself expressed his hope for rain on Saturday and Sunday, but what if that doesn't happen? Will the W15 then be able to beat McLaren? "I don't think we have to pace against the Red Bulls, but we should have the pace against the McLarens but having said that, we don't have much data from FP1, it could be that they are much quicker than all the others around," added Wolff.