Sebastian Vettel believes Mercedes were as much lucky as clever with their strategy after winning the Mexican Grand Prix.
The German had to settle for second at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, as Lewis Hamilton’s earlier pit-stop allowed him to undercut the Ferrari for the lead before holding on to claim his 10th win of 2019.
And on a day when predicting tyre wear proved the decisive factor, Vettel was left to admit his team got it a little wrong.
“Well I think if you are starting on the front row you are fighting for the victory and I think in the end we sort of did but not quite enough,” he told Sky Sports
“Ultimately if you are fair, I think we didn’t have the speed to force the victory, despite the strategy.
“With hindsight, you are always a bit smarter and obviously Lewis had nothing to lose [by stopping first], so he might as well try and it worked for him.
“We expected the tyres to hit the cliff but for him it was fine,” Vettel added. “He had significantly more laps on it and I think seeing that Valtteri stayed out so long is confirmation for them that it was a huge risk.
“There are these days where it pays off but certainly it was not all knowledge. So I don’t think we got beaten on strategy terms, I think they won and got a bit lucky, second they had a bit more speed.”
Perhaps backing up Vettel’s point, Hamilton himself was wary of Mercedes’ decision to box.
And the four-time world champion revealed there was a degree of flexibility in their rivals thinking.
“We are taking risks but obviously there’s no point being stupid,” he said. “At that point of the race fitting the hards without stopping again was a brave move.
“It could have been either way and speaking to them after the race quickly they had the two stops as their preferred strategy, so as I said if you are in that position you might as well try.
“Third and fifth is not a big difference but if it allows you to jump to first you are the winner so you give it a go. It worked for them from a strategy point of view but they had the speed as well.”