Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says the outcome of the United States Grand Prix justified the manufacturer’s caution, as Lewis Hamilton’s potential title celebrations were put on ice.
Hamilton had triumphed at the previous four Grands Prix and arrived at the Circuit of the Americas unbeaten at the venue since 2013.
A victory, with Sebastian Vettel third or lower, would have sealed the 2018 title for Hamilton, and he went on to take pole position, as his penalised rival was left in fifth.
But in race trim Hamilton’s two-stop strategy left him behind Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, while Vettel took fourth despite spinning on the opening lap.
Mercedes has repeatedly brushed aside talk of clinching the title and warned that Ferrari remained a threat in spite of its recent form, and Wolff emphasised that the race result proved why it was cautious.
“All week, we have heard people talking us up, talking Ferrari down and talking as if this season is a foregone conclusion,” said Wolff.
“But that narrative doesn't fit the reality of Formula 1.
“We have been wary and respectful of Ferrari at every race this year and we knew they would come here to fight back hard – and so they did.
“It wasn't a surprise against competitors of such strength.”
Wolff explained that the decision to switch Hamilton to a two-stop strategy was prompted by the need to adopt a different approach to leader Raikkonen.
“We didn't have the balance of speed and tyre management that we would have needed to win,” he said.
“When we were running second with Lewis and the VSC came out, we took the opportunity to off-set ourselves in order to go for the win – because it was going to be very tough to win by mirroring Kimi ahead.
“This looked pretty good for a while but we knew it would mean coming back through other cars in the final laps – and it didn't work out.
“He managed to close the gap but we gave him too big a mountain to climb, and the tyres no longer had the pace advantage he needed to pass in the final laps, in spite of giving it a pretty spectacular go against Max.”
Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas finished fifth.
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