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Formula 1 Singapore GP
Mercedes feels sympathy for "awful" Ferrari situation
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says he actually felt a bit of sympathy for the nightmare scenario Ferrari faced at the Singapore Grand Prix with both its cars out on the opening lap.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Sep 18, 2017, 10:23 AM
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Sebastian Vettel had a golden chance to retake the lead of the Formula 1 championship in Singapore after a dominant performance in qualifying, as title rival Lewis Hamilton seemed unable to match his pace.
But it all went wrong on the run to the first corner when Vettel was involved in a chain reaction crash that involved himself, teammate Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen.
Ferrari's double retirement left the door open for Hamilton to seize a win that has helped him open up a 28-point lead in the drivers' championship with six races to go.
For Wolff, though, the Ferrari crash was not something that left him too overjoyed, because it brought back memories of times like the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix when his own drivers came together on the opening lap.
"In the morning we were talking about damage limitation, and we go away from Singapore with a one and three – so from our perspective it's a great result," he said when asked by Motorsport.com for his feelings after seeing the Ferraris crash.
"Once that happens you can kind of feel for Ferrari. I've been in the situation of losing both cars, and you can relate how awful that feels for them.
"But I guess we're not here to make prisoners. From that moment on it was clear we were in the lead with Lewis. It was about delivering the best possible race."
Vettel blind spot
The startline crash was investigated by the FIA stewards afterwards but it was ruled that no driver was predominantly to blame for what happened.
From Wolff's perspective, he believes that Vettel was caught out by trying to close the door on Verstappen but not realising that Raikkonen was alongside the Dutchman.
"I think what happened was Sebastian didn't see that Kimi was on the inside," he said. "It was about defending against Max who was there.
"I guess it is very difficult to see if there's a third car on the left and this is what caused the collision."
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