The performance of Valtteri Bottas was the most positive takeaway for Mercedes from the Chinese GP, according to motorsport boss Toto Wolff.
As teammate Lewis Hamilton languished, the Finn was in pretty unfortunate not to right the wrong of his near-miss in Bahrain a week prior as he capitalised on Ferrari’s error during the pit-stop phase to leapfrog Sebastian Vettel into the lead.
A bold move on Kimi Raikkonen consolidated his lead and he would keep the German at bay before the race turned on its head.
“That was awesome. No mistakes, [just] unlucky with the Safety Car,” Wolff told Formula1.com, with a decision by Red Bull to pit both cars for new tyres putting Bottas at a disadvantage.
Even when Daniel Ricciardo came to overtake the Mercedes driver for the win though: “If Valtteri hadn’t opened the door last minute, Ricciardo would have taken him out. So Valtteri’s the only one who was without fault,” he argued.
Nevertheless, the overall performance, lagging behind Ferrari by a considerable margin in qualifying and then Hamilton’s absent race which saw him lucky to finish P4, left a bitter taste in the Mercedes boss’ mouth.
“We just need to stick our heads together,” he claimed. “Stay calm, get the head down and come up with some solutions. Huge confidence in the team, they’ve proved that in the past.
“In F1 there is never a quick fix,” Wolff added. “We lacked pace. It’s just all around not the level that we all expect and hope.
“The whole weekend was not good for all of us – the only thing that I see positive was Valtteri’s race,” he concluded.
Sunday’s defeat also marked the first time in the hybrid era that Mercedes has gone three races without a victory.
