Wolff: instructions can create a complicated situation

Scuderia Ferrari is trying as best it can to limit its delay in Mercedes who scored a series of doubles in the first three Grands Prix of the season. The stable of Maranello chose to follow team instructions to optimize his result, but Sebastian Vettel already 31 points behind the Championship leader Lewis Hamilton. The Prancing Horse is 57 units less than the starred manufacturer.

Executive Director of Mercedes Motorsport Toto wolff was invited to comment on this strategy, knowing that the champion team has also issued instructions, notably at the Russian GP last year in Sochi at the expense of Valtteri Bottas who was aiming for his first victory of the season.

“It's obviously a difficult situation because you want to have the fastest car and be able to threaten your opponents. Sebastian (Vettel) claimed he had the fastest car at that time (at the Chinese GP) and so they reversed the order. I can understand that in a way”, indicated the Austrian, quoted on the official F1 website.

“However, once you start doing this kind of thing, it becomes complicated because you set a precedent and open Pandora's box. We may then find ourselves having a call at every race where the lower ranked driver indicates that he is faster…. It's not just Ferrari's problem. Every team has this kind of problem if it has two top drivers., he said.