Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted he could have done a better job of handling the title-deciding race between his drivers in 2016.

The race saw Lewis Hamilton attempt to hold up his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg as they fought for the title. Hamilton needed to win the race with his team mate finishing no higher than third, and after taking the lead he deliberately slowed in the hope another driver would pass Rosberg.

Mercedes repeatedly urged Hamilton to speed up. The interventions made no difference and Hamilton won the race ahead of Rosberg, who clinched the championship. Rosberg, who had signed a new two-year contract with Mercedes earlier in the year, did not return to F1 after winning his title.

Wolff said he now realises he could have handled the race better. “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.

“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. My relationship and the team’s relationship with Lewis is as strong as it can be whilst being rivals on track, and the same with Nico.”

The Mercedes team principal has repeatedly denied claims of favouritism towards various drivers who have raced for him. He said he has always tried to create a level playing field between his drivers.

“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.

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“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?’

“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.’

“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.”

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