Wolff knows Russia one-two is "big step towards championship"

After an unlikely one-two at the Russian Grand Prix, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff knows the win is a "big step" towards his team's sixth consecutive championship, with the gap in both standings being over 100 points.

Like it has been the case in every Grand Prix since the summer break, Ferrari looked the quicker car all weekend and they expressed this by getting a fourth pole position in a row.

After the start, it looked like Ferrari were one for consecutive one-two's as Sebastian Vettel nudged himself ahead of both Lewis Hamilton as well as pole-sitter Charles Leclerc.

However, fortune smiled Mercedes' way, as Vettel retired from the race. He then caused a VSC, which was ideal for the Silver Arrows as they could pit and get out ahead of Leclerc, who was left with P3.

"That’s what we love racing - you can win when you haven’t got the quickest package," Wolff told Sky Sports after the race.

"It makes it so special it's unbelievable. You start to doubt and you know where you have deficits and you cling on to the few hopes like a late safety car and then it happens. We're overwhelmed and it’s a big step towards the championship."

Speaking on the Vettel Virtual Saftey Car, Wolff does concede it was the main reason for the German works team's win.

"That was one of the core reasons to be able to stretch the first stint to hope the tyres would come in when theirs would drop off, we knew we could go longer. The safety car caused by their own car gave us the win.

"It’s the second time Valtteri has done it here with Sebastian, and he was a big part of us winning, if Charles had gone through our win would be at risk. We have a big job at our hands we need to sort out our pace in qualifying and our tyres in order to be quicker in the races.

"It was a big step towards the championship but it's never done. Black swans do exist and we need to recover pure pace in Suzuka. We have always been very strong there and we need to find answers to our questions."