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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has said that the battle for P2 in the championship against Ferrari has got tougher after a rough weekend in Singapore.
Mercedes had a below-par weekend in Singapore. George Russell finished outside the points, while Lewis Hamilton finished P9. Both drivers had collisions and incidents, with Russell having contact with Valtteri Bottas and Mick Schumacher, while Hamilton crashed into the wall.
Talking about the race, Wolff said that the championship fight for P2 has got significantly more difficult with their showing in Singapore. He said:
"The biggest frustration today is that we couldn't build on the signs of competitive performance we saw in FP2 and in qualifying. Our championship fight for P2 has got significantly more difficult with this result, but the only thing to do is to collect ourselves and throw our energy into the next race in Suzuka to rebuild momentum."
The Mercedes boss said the season has served the team quite a few tough lessons. He said:
"This season has given us several tough lessons - and today was another one. We started from opposite ends of the grid with our two cars, but we couldn't capitalise on the car's race pace with either of them, when it came to an end result."
Talking about Hamilton's race, the Mercedes boss talked about how the car was always on a knife-edge and a struggle for the former world champion. He said:
"Lewis was fighting for the podium for much of the race - but also battling a car balance that was on a knife edge today, in difficult conditions and on the bumpy surface."
He added:
"After he locked up and damaged the wing, the stop to change tires and the nose cost him position - then he lost out even more when cars ahead pitted under Safety Car and jumped ahead. That left him stuck in a train of cars on very similar aged tyres, and he couldn't make up any ground."
Mercedes (373) trail second-placed Ferrari (439) ahead of the Japanese GP this weekend.
We rolled the dice for George Russell - Mercedes boss
Talking about George Russell's race, Toto Wolff said that the team 'rolled the dice' on him, as the driver was at the back of the grid. He said:
"For George, we rolled the dice on dry tyres when he was running out of the points - in hindsight, it was clearly too early, but he had nothing to lose, so we were prepared to take the gamble. Even so, as the race unfolded, he was still on course to make it back to the points until the collision with Mick, which put him last on the road."
With only five races to go, Mercedes have ground to make up on Ferrari if they wish to finish P2 in the constructor championship.
