“If it can’t be us, then it should be Ferrari”: Mercedes F1 boss hopes Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc can end Max Verstappen’s domination in Monza

Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff has said that he hopes that Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc can stop Max Verstappen from winning ten races in a row at the Italian GP on Sunday.

The Spaniard will start from pole position ahead of Max Verstappen and his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in front of the adoring Tifosi. Other than the millions of Ferrari fans around the world, Toto Wolff will also be cheering for the Red team so they can end Max Verstappen and Red Bull's dominance in 2023 and stop them from winning every single race.

Speaking with the media, including Sportskeeda, Wolff said:

“It’s quite interesting because when you look at the weekend in the Netherlands and the higher downforce weekends, they’re not very competitive, and then you come here and they are giving it a big blast and Verstappen a run for the money. Whether they can really translate that in race pace tomorrow over the whole race needs to be seen."

He added:

“I think, for me, Verstappen is still the favorite for the race because overall the car has just been so good and he has been faultless, but it would be good for Formula 1 I guess if they give him a hard time and seeing a Ferrari win in Monza, if it can’t be us, then it should be Ferrari.”

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Carlos Sainz on his chances of winning in front of the Tifosi

Carlos Sainz has said that it is possible for Ferrari to fight against Red Bull in the main race and go for the win.

In his post-quali press conference, Carlos Sainz said:

"I think it can happen. I think nothing is impossible tomorrow, especially starting from P1. If I get a good start, I'm going to do everything I can to stay ahead of Max. I think, looking back at this year, one hundred percent of races, they've been quicker and they've been clearly quicker no? So that makes me feel like it's not going to be easy at all and they're going to try a way past one way or another, no?"

He added:

"But, you know, something could happen. We could also have a particularly good day tomorrow and get the win. So I'm just going to try, and go open-minded into tomorrow, drive us as I want to win the race, and then adapt to the circumstances and to the race pace of each car."

It will be interesting to see if Carlos Sainz or Charles Leclerc can work together to stop Max Verstappen and Red Bull on Sunday.