Mercedes Monaco result was "damage limitation"

eb80ed29e597c9ccfa7deab09181f41fafbefdbd

18:35, 29 May 2018

Toto Wolff believes that Mercedes' result in Monaco was a case of "damage limitation". The Silver Arrows have struggled around the streets for the past few seasons and with stronger rivals in 2018 in Red Bull and Ferrari, Wolff acknowledged that it was an off weekend for the champions.

“I would say as much as we like to win races you need to also be conscious enough that there will be days when it’s more difficult,” said Wolff.

“It’s damage limitation, third and fifth I would have taken before the weekend. But then our own expectations, you always want to aim higher.

“Lewis suffered from graining on both tyre compounds which he had to manage through most of the race.

“We discussed making another stop but it would only have cost us positions, not gained any, so it was the right call to stay out.

“We could have pitted Valtteri (under the Virtual Safety Car) and he wouldn't have lost a position and he would have been on a fresh tyre towards the end.

“But we didn’t have any Supersofts anymore for him, we didn’t want to put him on the hyper or the ultra and it wouldn’t have changed anything for him.

“You could see that even if you have a five-second lap time advantage you will not overtake unless something happens, so it didn't make any difference.”

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	156
2	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	115
3	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	106
4	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	75
5	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	73
6	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	70
7	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	55
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	37
9	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	32
10	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	28
11	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	19
12	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
13	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	14
14	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
15	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
16	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
17	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	2
18	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	1
19	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
20	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
21	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Mercedes Monaco result was "damage limitation"

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