Toto Wolff has praised the driving of Lewis Hamilton during Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix after admitting Mercedes made a strategy error during the race.
Reigning world champion Hamilton extended his lead at the top of the standings to 17 points following his victory in the Principality – a win that was made even more impressive after he was fitted with medium tyres compared to his rivals’ hard on his only pit stop.
That meant the Brit had to last 67 laps on the wrong tyres, but he was still able to hold off the increasing threat of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to claim his fourth race victory from the opening six GP’s of the season.
Wolff was quick to praise Hamilton, who is now priced at 1.22 to claim his sixth world title this year, particularly given the strategy error the Silver Arrows made.
“We knew that the tyre choice was the wrong one and in hindsight we would have taken the hard,” Wolff told Sky Sports. “We rarely make mistakes like this.
“In the end, the driver made the difference and won us the race.”
Wolff also felt that Sunday’s victory took on extra significance following the death of Mercedes’ non-executive chairman Niki Lauda earlier in the week – the three-time world champion having played a major role in bringing Hamilton to the Brackley-based outfit back in 2012. “It means a lot,”Wolff added.
“It couldn’t have been a more dramatic race after the incidents of last week. “It was a world champions’ drive for a world champion who isn’t among us anymore.”
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