Mercedes boss Toto Wolff lauded Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix as a great example of how Formula One should be, with the top three teams using different tyre strategies to keep the result in the balance until the last lap.
Wolff was delighted to see his drivers finish first and third after struggling at the circuit a year ago but race winner Nico Rosberg suffered an almighty scare from a fast-charging Daniel Ricciardo with fresher tyres in his Red Bull.
“It was so close at the end, how it should be in Formula One,” the Austrian told reporters after Rosberg held on to win by 0.488 seconds and teammate Lewis Hamilton held off Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen for third.
“Four really great cars, different strategies and I must take my hat off to Red Bull with strategy by pitting him (Ricciardo), we couldn’t do that. Ricciardo was out of the blocks with amazing pace and it was really exciting at the end.”
Wolff said both Mercedes cars suffered brake issues but was full of praise for Rosberg, whose eighth victory of the season took him eight points clear of triple champion Hamilton in the title race with six rounds remaining.
“He (Rosberg) was really great all weekend. They both struggled with the brakes, we were probably a little bit too marginal. He got it under control well and controlled the pace,” Wolff added.
While Rosberg has the momentum after having won the last three races, Wolff remained convinced that the championship was likely to go all the way to the last race in Abu Dhabi.
“They are so close together in terms of performance. One bad weekend is enough and the other has an advantage. It’s going to go down the wire,” he said.