Mercedes: Starting on mediums would have been a "big gamble"
Toto Wolff says starting Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas on medium tyres would have been a "big gamble" for Mercedes heading into Sunday's Formula 1 Eifel Grand Prix.
Bottas led Mercedes to its 12th pole position in a row on Saturday after edging out teammate Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the final stage of qualifying at the Nurburgring.
Mercedes had looked set to qualify both Hamilton and Bottas on medium tyres at the start of Q2, only to switch them to softs for their final runs in the session.
Hamilton said after qualifying that he wanted to start the race on mediums and felt he could have made it through to Q3 on the tyre, but trusted the team's call to make the switch.
"In the debrief, that was discussed, and it's clear that the soft is the right tyre to start with, and Lewis agreed to that," Mercedes F1 team principal Wolff said when asked about the decision by Motorsport.com.
"The reasons being that starting on the medium, you're losing about three or four metres against the soft, and all his competitors are around on softs.
"So it makes no sense to take big risks and a big gamble. You could clearly see in Q2 that nobody would have qualified on the mediums, so you would have had a real disadvantage for the first few laps. It was a clear decision.
"Obviously Lewis doesn't like to be in P2 or worse. That's why an alternative strategy always makes a lot of sense, just accepting to follow a car is not how he operates. The soft was the right choice."
Read Also:
Drivers are braced for a challenging race in managing strategy after the weather on Friday prevented any practice running from taking place, limiting teams to cram all of their planned programmes into the one-hour FP3 session on Saturday morning.
But Wolff said Mercedes would adapt to the situation as the race played out in deciding on its strategy, with rain and cold temperatures expected to return.
"We're not so much in the dark, it's just more of adapting to the new situation, working with less data, and accepting that tomorrow there will be learning by doing," Wolff said.
"The whole grid believes the soft tyre is a good tyre to start with, and then we'll see how that pans out, whether it's a two-stop or a one.
"Obviously there is no data from long runs, whether the hards or the mediums are the right choice. I find it super exciting."
Related video

Previous article
Perez says Racing Point "messed up" qualifying strategy
Next article
Ill Stroll unable to drive because “he couldn’t get off the toilet”

About this article
Series | Formula 1 |
Event | Eifel GP |
Teams | Mercedes |
Author | Luke Smith |
Mercedes: Starting on mediums would have been a "big gamble"
Trending
How Do Drivers Stay Fit For F1 Grand Prix?
Ronnie Peterson and Jochen Rindt Tribute
The double whammy that is defining Vettel’s F1 fate
It's been a tough start to Sebastian Vettel's Aston Martin F1 career, with a lack of pre-season testing mileage followed by an incident-packed Bahrain GP. But two key underlying factors mean a turnaround is no guarantee.
The themes to watch in F1's Imola return
Three weeks is a long time in Formula 1, but in the reshaped start to the 2021 season the teams head to Imola to pick things up after the frenetic Bahrain opener. Here's what to look out for and the developments to follow at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
The 'new' F1 drivers who need to improve at Imola
After a pandemic-hit winter of seat-swapping, F1 kicked off its season with several new faces in town, other drivers adapting to new environments, and one making a much-anticipated comeback. Ben Anderson looks at who made the most of their opportunity and who needs to try harder…
The delay that quashed Aston Martin’s last F1 venture
Aston Martin’s only previous foray into Formula 1 in the late 1950s was a short-lived and unsuccessful affair. But it could have been so different, says Nigel Roebuck.
Verstappen exclusive: Why lack of titles won't hurt Red Bull's ace
Max Verstappen’s star quality in Formula 1 is clear. Now equipped with a Red Bull car that is, right now, the world title favourite and the experience to support his talent, could 2021 be the Dutchman’s year to topple the dominant force of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes?
Is Formula 1 as good as it has ever been now?
For many, many years Formula 1 has strived to do and to be better on all fronts. With close competition, a growing fanbase, a stable political landscape and rules in place to encourage sustainability, 2021 is on course to provide an unexpected peak
How Williams’ new structure adheres to a growing F1 trend
Williams held out against the tide for many years but, as MARK GALLAGHER explains, the age of the owner-manager is long gone
When a journeyman driver's F1 career lasted just 800m
Nikita Mazepin’s Formula 1 debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix lasted mere corners before he wiped himself out in a shunt, but his financial backing affords him a full season. Back in 1993 though, Marco Apicella was an F1 driver for just 800m before a first corner fracas ended his career. Here’s the story of his very short time at motorsport’s pinnacle.