Toto Wolff admits Mercedes "didn't know" if Hamilton's hard tyres would last
F1 News
Almost immediately after Mercedes put Lewis Hamilton on the hard tyres, the British driver was questioning the decision to pit as early as they did. At the end of the race, Hamilton's tyres were 14 laps older than second-placed Sebastian Vettel but the German couldn't close a two-second gap.
Hamilton had is doubts and according to team boss Toto Wolff, Mercedes "didn't know" if Hamilton's tyres would last the duration of the race.
"We didn't know [if Lewis could make the tyres last]. It was an experiment. We saw that Ricciardo was going strongly and we thought he could make it, but in the car, it feels bizarre to make 47 laps on the tyre," Wolff told Sky Sports.
On Saturday, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and Ferrari proved they were the favourites for the Mexican Grand Prix by qualifying comfortably ahead of Mercedes. To make Saturday matter worse for Mercedes, Bottas flew into the wall on the last lap. But things were different when the championship points were up to grabs.
"Who would have expected that starting from P3 and P6? Coming out P1 and P3 is rather unusual. It shows it's difficult at the front to take the right decisions in order not to throw away a race win. It's easier when you don't have something to lose."