09/07/2018
NEWS STORY
When driver's wives start getting involved, it really is time to move on, and this appears to be the case 'the morning after' for Toto Wolff.
Maybe it was the heat of Silverstone, maybe it was the triple-header effect or the endless claims that it was coming home, but neither Lewis Hamilton's post-race claims of sabotage or those from other members of the Mercedes team did anyone any good, rather take the shine on a day of great racing.
Consequently, as he reflects on the missed opportunity that was Silverstone, and the realisation the his team truly has a fight on its hands, in his summing up of the British Grand Prix weekend, Toto Wolff pretty much avoids the blame game.
"The race was incredible, thrilling right to the finish and full of drama," admitted the Austrian. "For Lewis, it was an awesome fightback to second after running dead last on lap one. His fresher tyres towards the end got him back to P2 and maximum damage limitation.
"For Valtteri, we gave it everything to try and claim the win, and he arguably would have done so without the first safety car period, as he was closing fast on Sebastian at that point. He defended like a lion but just couldn't hold off Sebastian as the tyres were dropping away, but he still did a great job to take P4.
"We need to look at our own performance and what we can improve," he admitted. "But, after the very close qualifying session, it was encouraging to see the underlying pace of the car, and that we had better tyre usage than our competitors.
"Overall, though, we are left with the feeling of 'what might have been' after one of our cars was taken out for the second time in three races on lap one.
"In the past three weekends, we have lost points through our own mistakes and those of others," he conceded, "now we need to get our heads down, keep developing and put the performance to good use in the next 11 races. It's all to play for."
Once again, he defended the decision not to pit under the safety car.
"I think it was absolutely the right decision," he said. "There were 15 or so laps until the end, we were on quite fresh mediums that would last and gaining track position was the important aspect that triggered our decision.
"Doing the opposite (of Ferrari) was the choice we went for and at the end brought us second and fourth. We went for track position and that was the right call. We wouldn't have won the race otherwise, in my opinion.
"Considering how the race started, we need to accept that result as an OK outcome and as damage limitation."