Wolff: 'Baku win doesn't change the reality that we're still behind'

Toto Wolff admits it was a bittersweet end to Mercedes weekend in Baku, with the team and Lewis Hamilton finally achieving their first win of the season, but Valtteri Bottas encountering horrid luck just two laps from the checkered flag.

Wolff admitted emotions were running high in the Silver Arrows camp in the closing stages of the race, with Bottas leading the charge after the final Safety Car period but Ferrari challenging from behind.

"That was just a brutal race and probably exactly the kind of Grand Prix that fans want to see, with twists and turns at every point," said the Austrian.

"In the garage, it was a real rollercoaster of emotions for the whole team and I am really pleased to see us get our first win of the season with Lewis but equally incredibly disappointed for Valtteri who drove a perfect race.

"We went from looking like scoring a solid double podium, to suddenly having the possibility of a one-two before it was snatched away from us with Valtteri's puncture, to still winning the race."

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Wolff said the race unfolded pretty much according to plan, with the exception of its dramatic finale. Mercedes had chosen to leave Bottas out as long as possible while banking on a potential safety car deployment.

"The strategy was learning by doing, because with the tyre you never know where it goes, " Wolff told Sky Sports.

"He was just going quicker quicker and quicker. We could have just stayed out until the end, and there was a tiny chance to even win the race with a normal strategy because the gap with Sebastian [Vettel] was not a lot and we would gone on to the ultrasoft anyway."

Mercedes will obviously take any win which comes its way, but Wolff insists hard work lies ahead, believing the German outfit is still behind Ferrari in terms of sheer speed.

However, the next round in Barcelona is a venue where Mercedes should perform well given the dominant pre-season form it displayed at the Circuit de Catalunya.

"It doesn't change the reality that we're a little bit behind at the moment, but I guess Lewis got his Melbourne win back" said Wolff.

"Barcelona will be interesting because interesting we were the quickest there, so we have to see where our pace has gone and whether it is just circuit specific.

"But there is definitely a lot of work for us to do, to catch up in various fields because at the moment the Ferrari looks like fastest car."

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