Wolff admits Mercedes chose wrong strategy: 'Totally surprised'

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell crossed the finish line in second and fourth. The team considered switching to soft tyres in the closing stages of the race, but were eventually forced to stay out on the hard tyres. Both drivers were not happy with the grip on the tyres.

"We were pressured with Lewis to do that. we didn't think the medium would go anywhere near the end. We are totally surprised with the way Perez hammered the tyres and it still hung on. We just got it wrong," Wolff began in conversation with Sky Sports.

While Red Bull Racing and Ferrari both opted for soft tyres and then mediums, Mercedes started on mediums and then switched to hard tyres. That strategy did not work out well, but the team did cross the finish line ahead of Ferrari. "We discussed whether the soft/hard was a viable one-stop strategy and soft/medium was never on the radar," the team boss continued.

Wolff hopes for second place in championship

Mercedes still has a chance of P2 in the constructors' championship. The team is currently 40 points behind Ferrari. "We need to be careful to jump to quick assumptions [40 points behind Ferrari for second in WCC]. They were clearly not fast this weekend, but it was also on our simulations our best weekend. So, let's see what happens in Brasil. Finishing second would be great for all our people and a win would be fantastic to demonstrate that the car was fast," Wolff said.