Wolff defends Mercedes choice: 'I would rather win than finish P2 and P3'.

Mercedes will leave Zandvoort with mixed feelings. The W13 looked fast during the Dutch Grand Prix, but in the end a wrong strategy prevented Lewis Hamilton from keeping the lead in the final stage of the race. Toto Wolff explains the team's choice.

"We discussed in the morning - are we taking a risk for the race win? Yes, we are taking risks. He had a 5 lap older medium and holding position was the right thing to do. In the end, it didn't work out for him. I'd rather win the race then second finish and third," the Mercedes team boss told Sky Sports.

It looked as though Mercedes would go for a one-stop, but the safety cars at the end of the race changed the strategy. George Russell opted to switch to soft tyres, while Hamilton continued on older mediums. As a result he was overtaken by Max Verstappen, Russell and Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton very emotional

"First of all Lewis was ahead. So, he has no problem with the call. You could either pit Lewis and loose track position to Verstappen and leave George out or be screwed. You can be both screwed," Wolff continued. "I just discussed with Lewis is there are so much more positives to take. Second and fourth is annoying but we had good race pace."

Hamilton sounded frustrated on the board radio as he was overtaken left and right by the competition. Wolff stressed that drivers experience many emotions in the cockpit. "First of all we are the trash bin for the driver. They are highly emotional. That close fighting for the win and then beaten up. Every emotion comes out. You are in the cockpit and you don't see everything"