Monaco was like a bad football game - Wolff

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has defended the Monaco Grand Prix at the weekend, which has been described as 'boring' by many of the drivers and indeed fans of the sport, with Lewis Hamilton even saying he would have fallen asleep watching the race at home.

Daniel Ricciardo started the race from pole position and kept his place until the end to claim the flag despite suffering engine failure which drastically reduced his power, with Sebastian Vettel in second and Hamilton in third unable to take advantage.

Hamilton even suggested there should be alterations to the Monaco track in order to make it more entertaining, but Wolff warned against 'knee-jerk reactions' and compared the race to a low-key football match.

"This is Monaco," the Mercedes team principal said.

"It's rare that there is no safety car or no major incident and it's happened this year.

"There are good football games and bad football games.This was one of the more calm ones.

"If you look at Baku, how the circuit is being laid out with the long straight, it provides spectacular racing. Monaco in the past has provided spectacular racing because of how close you can race here, the climate changing, safety cars.

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"We must not swing between depression and exuberance," he pleads.

"This time it's the depression again but, at the next weekend, we might have a good race and everybody is falling into mania of how great the racing is. There are just days like this."

Wolff went on to reflect on the overall Mercedes performance from the weekend, and admitted he would have taken third and fifth for Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas before the weekend as it means the team still leads both championships.

"As much as we like to win races you need to be also conscious enough that there are days where it is more difficult," Wolff explained

"It was a tough and frustrating afternoon for Lewis and Valtteri. Third and fifth is damage limitation - I would have probably taken that before the weekend.

"We can be pleased to leave Monaco in the lead of both Championships. But, we always want to aim higher.

"Now we will regroup and aim to return to winning form in Canada."