Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says he is sympathetic towards Ferrari’s plight, after Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen collided on the opening lap of the Singapore Grand Prix.
Mercedes was braced for a struggle around the streets of Marina Bay and lined up from only the third row of the grid, with Lewis Hamilton fifth and Valtteri Bottas sixth, behind the quartet of Ferrari and Red Bull drivers.
However, Hamilton moved into the lead on the opening lap, aided by Vettel, Räikkönen and Max Verstappen coming to blows on the run to Turn 1.
Both Ferraris, and Verstappen, were eliminated in the incident, and Wolff expressed a degree of sympathy for the team, having experienced a similar situation in Spain last year, when Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collided at the start.
“In the morning we were talking about damage limitation and we go away from Singapore with P1 and P3", said Wolff.
"From our perspective, it is a great result. You kind of feel for Ferrari, though. I've been in the situation of losing both cars and you can relate how awful that feels for them."
"From the moment we were in the lead with Lewis, it was clear it was about delivering the best possible race.
“We didn't have the quickest car [in qualifying] but Daniel [Ricciardo] is a benchmark around Singapore in the Red Bull and we were pulling away in all conditions and in all scenarios. That is interesting to analyse and understand.”
Wolff nonetheless cautioned Mercedes against relaxing, despite opening a 102-point advantage over Ferrari in the standings.
“Six more races mean it can go six times against us in a similar way to how it went against Ferrari,” he said.
“This is why we just have to concentrate on every single race and try to optimise the result.”
