Hamilton beat world championship leader Max Verstappen to the top spot on the grid at the Hungaroring, ending the Dutchman’s five-race run of pole positions.
And with Mercedes having struggled with car balance for much of the season, and having low hopes for this weekend's event, Hamilton’s shock effort has proved once again how difficult the 2023 ground effect machines are to understand.
Speaking after qualifying, which included Alfa Romeo’s securing its best grid slots for several years, Wolff suggested that the Hungaroring result was the latest evidence that the set-up compromises required for the current cars makes things almost impossible to predict.
“I think there's certainly a part of these ground effect cars being an enigma,” said Wolff.
“Performances seem to come and go for all the teams – and congratulations to Alfa: they are fifth and seventh on the grid. I don't think that they really much understand where that came from.
“Red Bull seem the only one who have really unlocked it and understanding what happens, and maybe McLaren now.
“But this is not something you can reverse engineer. This is something you just got to work at and come to the right conclusion.”
Source: Autosport