Toto Wolff warns Mercedes after Monaco: "We were close to losing here"
F1 News
Toto Wolff is ensuring every Mercedes team member keeps a lid on their emotions as a title in 2019 starts to look inevitable. The team principal says they "must never get carried away".
The Silver Arrows didn't manage to keep their one-two streak alive in Monaco, but Lewis Hamilton bagged his fourth win of the season. With Charles Leclerc's retirement added in, Mercedes has opened up a 118 point lead in the constructor's championship. A lead which is 34 more points than last years winning margin.
Despite having one of the strongest ever starts to a Formula 1 season, Wolff remains cautious. He looks back to the Monaco Grand Prix and knows Max Verstappen would have passed on any other track.
"We were close to losing here [in Monaco]. Considering that it's a track where you can't overtake, Max still tried and could’ve made the pass. I think going back to normal race tracks we need to accept that we, in terms of tyre life, we need to learn from Monaco and understand why that was," Wolff told Crash.
“Because this situation in Montreal you lose the race. I think from a mindset, we must never be carried away. We’re just flying at the moment, but we were a bit lucky to actually win that race.”
Valtteri Bottas suffered contact in the pit lane after Red Bull released Verstappen unsafely. Bottas still managed to be on the podium after the Dutchman got his penalty, as Verstappen was classified fourth with both Bottas and Sebastian Vettel being within five seconds of him.