Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says Daniel Ricciardo taking the fastest lap point away from Lando Norris at the Singapore Grand Prix was not a dirty play.
Norris dominated the race in Singapore and had the fastest lap to his name when RB opted to pit Ricciardo for a third time to fit a new set of soft tires. Having already been last on the road, Ricciardo then set the fastest lap while Norris was on his final lap, ensuring Norris did not get the extra point that comes with setting the fastest lap as long as you finish inside the top ten.
McLaren team principal Zak Brown has said he will ask questions of the process behind the decision from RB given Red Bull’s ownership of the team, but Wolff downplayed any potential controversy.
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“I think you’re going to probably play all strategies that you have,” Wolff said. “I don’t think it was a dirty play, not at all. It could come down to a point, [but] it was within the regulations. The drivers weren’t unfair with each other. I think it’s just an extra point. No big deal.”
Wolff also had his own matters to deal with as Mercedes faded from starting with both cars on the second row to finish a distant fourth and sixth with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton respectively.
“It was a really painful, painful evening. It’s not about when you look at the positions, fourth and sixth – that’s not good, especially when you’re starting second and third. The car is just… we struggle at the moment with tracks that are hot and tough on traction.
“It was here, it was in Baku, but this is no excuse. I think it’s just at the moment not what we expect from ourselves. Because if your quickest car is a minute behind the leader then it’s just difficult to accept.”
Wolff wouldn’t let the unusual strategy of starting Hamilton on the soft tire from third place cloud the wider disappointment in Mercedes’ pace in Singapore.
“I think we’ve read the race wrong. We took a decision based on historic Singapore races where it’s basically a procession like Monaco, and that the soft tire would give him an opportunity at the start as pretty much the only overtaking opportunity. And that was the wrong decision that we all took together jointly.
“It felt like a good offset, but with the rear tire degradation that we had, there was just one way, and that was backwards. So I think there was a logic behind it, but obviously it was contrary to what we should have decided.
“But it doesn’t hide away from the fact that when a car is too slow, you’re too slow. Maybe you’re a position ahead or behind, but that doesn’t change anything.”