F1: Wolff says Mercedes will consider split strategies

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says the team must be prepared to be flexible with strategy calls in the future, in the wake of its defeat to Ferrari in Malaysia.

Mercedes chose to pit both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg when the safety car was deployed at Sepang, rather than splitting strategies, while Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel stayed out in clear air. That forced Mercedes into a three-stop strategy for both its drivers and saw them lose time cutting back through the field, while Vettel's two-stop plan enabled the German to clinch victory.

Wolff said the increased pressure from rivals, in this case Ferrari, means Mercedes could split strategies between its drivers in future.

"Probably we need to reflect the increased competition with our strategy calls," said Wolff. "You don't want to repeat what you did in Sepang, sticking out the second car, because you are losing a handful of seconds behind the first car, you're coming out in traffic.

"Probably there could have been a different call and will be a different call for the future. We would split the strategies if it is not clear to us which one is the better one and if we need to mirror the other team, at least with one of the cars, which we didn't do in Sepang."

Wolff said that Mercedes tried to stay as fair as possible between drivers last year and he remains keen not to compromise one driver's race to benefit another.

"What we always tried last year was very fair and square for the drivers, and stayed as much as possible neutral so they do not argue at the end of the race," said Wolff. "If you put them on a slower tyre or you try to bunch up the field, whoever that driver is is going to protest; you don't want to do that. You don't want to compromise the race."

Originally on Autosport.com