Vettel threw away 'easy' win, say Mercedes

Toto Wolff said Sebastian Vettel lost an "easy" win at the Circuit of the Americas in his first-lap collision with Daniel Ricciardo that spun him towards the rear of the pack. Lewis Hamilton was beaten into third by Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen, but Vettel was not in place to capitalise on a below-par day for Mercedes.

The title fight between Hamilton and Vettel rolls on to Mexico, but the reigning champion gained further ground on the Ferrari man, who must win the remaining three races and hope Hamilton only scores four points across them.

Raikkonen's victory came as Ferrari rediscovered the pace which had made Vettel seem a title favourite earlier in the season – but Wolff said the victory ought to have been the German's.

"This has been the most difficult season so far," he said.

"The whole season you could see two or three races were going in our favour, then Ferrari was again very strong and then we had a good run and now Ferrari had a very good weekend.

"I imagine if Sebastian had not spun out in lap one then he probably would have won the race easy."

It was revealed in Austin, Texas that Ferrari gained pace by removing upgrades that had slowed them in Singapore, Russia and Japan and Wolff says the Silver Arrows had always expected their rivals to regain their mojo.

Sunday at @COTA #USGP pic.twitter.com/wdbFZ3bUTg — Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) October 22, 2018

He said: "In the media, somebody has a run with good races and he's world champion and the greatest on the planet and the other ones are the biggest idiots on the planet and you write them off. But that's not how Formula 1 runs.

"It's cyclical: You have a good momentum, you win a race, two or three and then it bites you and it bit us.

"And that was always something we expected and it's honestly tiring to sit out there and discuss about winning trophies when the bloody trophy's not won.

"They are a strong group of racers – they have won many races, they deserve the respect of still being able to compete with us and today they were stronger and they won it. Now we need to keep our calm and go to Mexico and perform."

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