Mercedes tyre choice was “crucial” to Russian GP win - Wolff

Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff believes his side’s strategy gamble to start the Russian Grand Prix on Medium tyres was a “crucial” factor behind its victory.

With Mercedes anticipating to lose ground to Ferrari on the long drag down to Turn 2 due to the Scuderia’s superior straight-line speed, the German manufacturer opted for a different strategy.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas set their quickest laps of Q2 on Pirelli’s Medium compound, meaning they could run longer into Sunday’s race than the Soft-starting Ferraris.

It would prove an important factor as the long-running Hamilton was able to pit under Virtual Safety Car conditions, meaning he was able to retain his lead following his stop as he claimed the team’s first win since the summer break to end Ferrari’s victory streak.

“It was crucial, because one of the things that we were looking for or that we were hoping for was a late Safety Car,” Wolff explained.

“And only the Medium was able to extend the stint and that’s what happened, caused by their car failing.

“I think in the moment of joy now, we need to be self-aware now - from pure speed, we didn’t have the performance this weekend, and there are many areas on which we need to work on to get our performance levels back.

“But equally the Sunday result shows you must never give up, even if you go into the race with a package that is not the quickest.

“If you do things right, all of those things, the drivers, the engineers and the management, then you can still win races. You’ve got to finish.”

An MGU-K failure for Sebastian Vettel inadvertently played into Mercedes’ hands as he stopped on track and caused the VSC period, enabling Hamilton to stay ahead of polesitter Charles Leclerc, who had stopped earlier in the race.

Bottas managed to fend off a late attack from the two-stopping Leclerc to help Mercedes score an unlikely 1-2 finish, given its weekend-long performance deficit to Ferrari in Sochi.

Asked what he felt the result would have been without the interference of the VSC, Wolff replied: “Realistically, you must say, I think it would have probably been enough to follow the gearbox like in the last few races. But not enough. 

“I think we had good pace at the beginning, Lewis was able to hang on to Charles, the Ferraris were pushing each other very strong and very hard, and I think we would have gone onto the Soft for the last 25 laps and been on a Soft against a Medium.

“If we are looking at it in an optimistic way, we are equal on pace, but with my half-empty glass, probably they were the quickest car in qualifying and in the race.”