Mercedes saw Verstappen get very close: "We had a bit of luck"
General
Toto Wolff hates that Mercedes didn't score a one-two, just like in Hungary. Due to a flat tyre, the German race team lost second place with Valtteri Bottas suffering with two laps to go, but it could have been a lot worse. Lewis Hamilton had just enough margin on rival Max Verstappen when he also had a flat tyre.
"When Valtteri's tyre broke up, I was very disappointed," said Wolff to Sky Sports. "His flat tyre was at the only imaginable point on the track... He drove another solid race and should have taken eighteen points here."
Bottas wasn't the only Mercedes driver with a flat tyre, because two laps later it was Hamilton's turn.
"Lewis shouted the exact same sentence over the radio. We really didn't think that could be true. He also got the flat tyre at a very bad time, but he just managed to make it. We were also a bit lucky."
What if Verstappen...?
If Red Bull and Verstappen hadn't chosen to go in for the fastest lap of the race, the victory might not have gone to Mercedes.
"You don't know if the pit stop saved him a flat tyre or if it cost him the victory," concluded Wolff.