Mercedes workforce principal Toto Wolff says Daniel Ricciardo taking the quickest lap level away from Lando Norris on the Singapore Grand Prix was not a unclean play.
Norris dominated the race in Singapore and had the quickest lap to his identify when RB opted to pit Ricciardo for a 3rd time to suit a brand new set of soppy tires. Having already been final on the highway, Ricciardo then set the quickest lap whereas Norris was on his last lap, making certain Norris didn’t get the additional level that comes with setting the quickest lap so long as you end inside the highest ten.
McLaren workforce principal Zak Brown has mentioned he’ll ask questions of the method behind the choice from RB given Crimson Bull’s possession of the workforce, however Wolff downplayed any potential controversy.
“I feel you’re going to most likely play all methods that you’ve,” Wolff mentioned. “I don’t suppose it was a unclean play, by no means. It might come down to some extent, [but] it was inside the laws. The drivers weren’t unfair with one another. I feel it’s simply an additional level. No huge deal.”
Wolff additionally had his personal issues to cope with as Mercedes light from beginning with each automobiles on the second row to complete a distant fourth and sixth with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton respectively.
“It was a extremely painful, painful night. It’s not about while you take a look at the positions, fourth and sixth – that’s not good, particularly while you’re beginning second and third. The automobile is simply… we battle in the intervening time with tracks which are scorching and difficult on traction.
“It was right here, it was in Baku, however that is no excuse. I feel it’s simply in the intervening time not what we anticipate from ourselves. As a result of in case your quickest automobile is a minute behind the chief then it’s simply tough to simply accept.”
Wolff wouldn’t let the weird technique of beginning Hamilton on the delicate tire from third place cloud the broader disappointment in Mercedes’ tempo in Singapore.
“I feel we’ve learn the race fallacious. We took a call based mostly on historic Singapore races the place it’s principally a procession like Monaco, and that the delicate tire would give him a chance firstly as just about the one overtaking alternative. And that was the fallacious resolution that all of us took collectively collectively.
“It felt like an excellent offset, however with the rear tire degradation that we had, there was only one means, and that was backwards. So I feel there was a logic behind it, however clearly it was opposite to what we should always have determined.
“But it surely doesn’t disguise away from the truth that when a automobile is just too gradual, you’re too gradual. Possibly you’re a place forward or behind, however that doesn’t change something.”
