Ferrari form has Mercedes worried after Sebastian Vettel wins in Singapore

Toto Wolff

Ferrari form has Mercedes worried after Vettel wins in Singapore

Toto Wolff not a happy man.

Matthew Scott

Sunday 22 September 2019 16:59

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says the Silver Arrows have cause for concern after seeing Ferrari take a third victory on the bounce at the Singapore Grand Prix.

After Charles Leclerc's successes in Belgium and Italy, Sebastian Vettel took the flag at the Marina Bay Circuit, with an upgrade package seemingly finally unlocking the SF90's potential.

With Leclerc having secured a hat-trick of pole positions in those races, Wolff cut a frustrated figure post-race, despite Lewis Hamilton retaining a 65-point lead in the drivers' championship and the team still sitting 133 points above Ferrari in the constructors' standings.

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"You've got to be worried and on your toes all the time," Wolff told Sky Sports "They've won the last three races and we cannot rest our laurels – from the beginning of the season and on a solid points gap – because that can catch you out."

Hamilton was kept out as those around him dived into the pits, which would prove is downfall as a potentially friendly safety car period did not arrive until the damage had been done.

Meanwhile, Vettel successfully pulled off the undercut to show Mercedes the way to go.

Wolff added: "We discussed the undercut but there was the risk in being caught up in traffic and the Vettel team did it right they had nothing to lose and I think everybody was surprised by how strong the undercut was.

"At that moment we'd already lost the position to Sebastian and then we tried to do the offset and go a bit longer.

"Lewis was saying the tyre was in good shape and we knew they were going to eventually catch the traffic, [we had] lots of assumptions and all was different.

"Our tyre just wore off and it wasn't competitive at all any more and this is why we ended up nowhere."