RaceFans has reported:

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says he would handle the 2016 Formula 1 title-deciding race between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg differently if he had the experience he has today. Mercedes repeatedly urged Hamilton to increase his pace, but the interventions did not change the result: Hamilton won the race, while Rosberg finished behind him and secured the championship.

Wolff said the team had tried to manage a situation that did not require intervention. “Looking back at it, I wish I would have had the 10 years more experience than I have today,” he said. “Because there’s a few things I would have handled differently and maybe avoided some of the controversy, particularly in the last race where we tried to micromanage a situation that didn’t need to be managed, in my opinion.”

He accepted responsibility for how Mercedes handled the race and reflected on how quickly time had passed. “That was my fault. So yes, 10 years. It’s crazy how fast time runs. It feels like it’s maybe five years ago, but we’ve moved on from that,” Wolff said. He added that his relationship with Hamilton, and the team’s relationship with the driver, remained strong despite their on-track rivalry, as did the team’s relationship with Rosberg.

Rosberg had signed a new two-year contract with Mercedes earlier in 2016. After winning the championship, he did not return to Formula 1. The 2016 finale remained controversial because Hamilton slowed the pace while leading, with Rosberg following behind as he sought the title; Mercedes’ repeated requests for Hamilton to speed up did not alter his approach or the race result.

Wolff has repeatedly rejected claims that he favoured particular drivers who raced for him. He said he has aimed to keep the team’s treatment of its drivers balanced and transparent since entering Formula 1, including during his time with Williams. “I’ve always tried, since I came into Formula 1, even in my Williams days, to be the most balanced and the most transparent with the drivers,” he said.

He linked that approach to a conversation with former driver Alain Prost, whom he encountered on the grid as a rookie. Wolff said he asked Prost why relations between Prost and Ayrton Senna had deteriorated. “I remember being a complete rookie and running into Alain Prost on the grid [before] a race and I said, ‘Just out of interest, why did it go so wrong between you and Senna?’”

Wolff recalled Prost’s response: “He said, ‘Because we never knew what the team was about. You felt that you were the flavour of the month one time, and then two months later you thought the politics were going against you. There were different situations where you had the feeling that you’re really not wanted.’”

Wolff said he took the exchange as a challenge to maintain fairness, though that was difficult when Hamilton and Rosberg were teammates. “So, I took it as my challenge to keep it always balanced. And it was not easy with Lewis and Nico back in the day. And that’s why people can think what they want, but the integrity in that respect is something that’s important for me, and the drivers know it.”