Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has labelled the manufacturer’s triumph in Singapore as one of its greatest, after Lewis Hamilton converted pole into victory on Sunday.
Mercedes headed to Singapore with a mixed record; it triumphed in 2014, 2016 and 2017, but last year was third-quickest over one-lap and was hugely assisted by the multi-car pile-up at the start.
Hamilton flew to pole position, describing it as one of the best laps of his career, and controlled proceedings in the race to chalk up his seventh win of the season.
“It feels like one of the greatest victories,” commented Wolff.
“It was really our bogey circuit in the past and we were so motivated to do well here and to show we could also perform in Singapore.
“Coming here by finishing the race by a very solid team result is a great achievement for everybody in this team
“We worked so hard after Spa [where Mercedes was beaten by Ferrari] to understand the car and we knew that against many voices, that we could perform well in Singapore.
“We came here, qualifying was amazing, the lap was stardust and then he controlled it throughout the whole race.”
Hamilton extended his lead over Sebastian Vettel to 40 points as the Ferrari driver classified third, having lost out to Max Verstappen through the pit stop phase.
Wolff expressed sympathy towards Ferrari’s plight, but asserted that taking on Softs, rather than Ultrasofts, was always Mercedes’ plan.
“It was a bit of a bold call, because it was not clear if the Ultra would make it to the end,” Wolff said of Ferrari’s strategy.
“But in order to make the undercut work, the Ultra was the right tyre.
“We were at least on the pit wall pretty sure the Soft would be the tyre to go to the end – and it was the right call.”
Mercedes extended its advantage over Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship to 37 points.
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