Wolff: I feel for Vettel it was his home race

While Lewis Hamilton celebrated an unexpected victory at the German Grand Prix, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff spared a thought for rivals Ferrari who endured three days at Hockenheim fraught with bad news.

Wolff paid his respects to seriously ill former Ferrari chief Sergio Marchionne while admitting he sympathised with Sebastian Vettel after his self-inflicted loss on the day at Hockenheim.

Speaking after his team turned the tables on Ferrari, taking advantage of Vettel’s error to pull off a one-two on home soil, delighting the entourage of heavy hitters from the German automaker who were present to witness the dramatic turnaround.

In the aftermath of a drama-packed weekend, Wolff told reporters, “Even in the joy of victory, our thoughts also remain with Sergio Marchionne and his family. Although we are rivals on the track, we are friends off it and we were saddened to hear the news of his illness.”

As for the race itself, Vettel’s momentary lapse could well be the defining moment of the season in which Ferrari have enjoyed an edge with their car, particularly in recent races.

After claiming pole position a day earlier, the race was theirs to lose… the German obliged and 25 points lost thanks to the DNF, coupled to Hamilton’s 25 for victory, is a massive blow to his title hopes.

Wolff acknowledged, “I feel for him because it is his home grand prix. We [fight] each other hard on the track and this was a moment which gave us the win, but I can also sympathise.”

During the race Hamilton scythed through the field from 14th on the grid, using the Silver Arrows’ clear power advantage to put himself in contention for a podium, with a particularly strong first stint.

When the rain came, Vettel was in command and apparently in control, until he was not! He made an unforced mistake, locked up and slid off-track under braking and the rest is well documented.

Thus Hamilton inherited the lead of the race with only an eager Valtteri Bottas snapping at his heels. At that point, when the safety car peeled into the pits to release the pack, Bottas had the better pace and looked feisty, up for a scrap.

But it was not long before he was instructed to holster his guns, thus with less than ten laps to go, the contest for the top spot on the podium was over, thanks to team orders brazenly imposed by the world champions which did not go down well with everyone in the paddock.

Wolff explained the controversial call, “With so much at stake, and after the misfortune of recent weeks, we took the call to tell Valtteri to hold position – it would have been the same if the cars had been the other way round, too, because we needed to protect the one-two and avoid losing one or both cars.”

“After the drama of Silverstone and then qualifying, this is a dream result and that unpredictability is the beauty of sport. But our focus will turn quickly to Hungary, where we will have to do it all over again next weekend.”

With their pick-of-the-bunch chassis, the smart money is on Red Bull returning to the sharp end of proceedings at the comparatively tight confines of Hungaroring, after two races at high-speed venues which simply did not suit their under-powered package. Needless to say, Ferrari will be strong too.

With the Hungarian Grand Prix in mind, Wolff added, “The battle continues. The next one is Budapest and we know we have to work hard to get back on top. It is going to be up and down between drama and glory through the season.”

“This is what motor racing should be all about,” concluded Wolff with the knowledge that after 11 rounds his team are top of the Formula 1 constructors’ championship again and their star number-one driver top of the drivers’ standings.