Mercedes sees interesting battle breaking out: 'Goal to work towards'

"It was impossible to do anything on strategy that would have put George better than third. With hindsight fitting the hard on his car at the first stop was a mistake but he did a good job with it and would have kept Carlos at arm's length had the race finished without the safety car," the engineer said in Mercedes' press release. 

Mercedes wants to battle with Ferrari

With Lewis Hamilton's fifth-place finish, having had to start from the back, Mercedes can live with a good feeling towards the end of the season. Although the world championship looks set to go to Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing are well on their way to clinching the constructors' championship, Mercedes still have something to fight for.

Mercedes are 35 points behind Ferrari, so second place is still a possibility. Shovlin hopes Mercedes will be able to compete with the Italians in the final races and eventually win it.

"Triple headers are never easy for the team and this one has been particularly tough, but we hope to perform better in the closing races. The battle with Ferrari for second place gives us a good goal to work towards in the final part of the season, so we'll be using the next two weeks to prepare as it's going to be a tough finish with six races in eight weeks."