Don't get me wrong, I agree with you. But even if MB did 4 stops, they didn't have the pace... Their tires fell off too badly. Their aero package must be extremely aggressive...that's why they have such a fast single lap. Tires get hot fast, but can't hold it together over an entire race distance because tires simply get too hot.
Having said that, why's the number of stops matter? Yes yes, you lose time in the pits. But at the rate MB was going backwards, I wonder if MB could've done 5-6 stops and gotten a better result? Why not approach it the wary Ferrari did and just attack flat out. Add more stops if necessary...let the drivers run 110% quali pace the entire time. I"d love to see MB try that since nothing else is working right now...
If it was just aggressive aero then they could reduce the wing angle, lower quali pace and have better race pace. Their problem is deeper, possibly by building a car that is optimized for air flow too much over suspension travel geometry design they have a car that is super fast (really good aero) but mechanically compromised. Not something they can likely fix over this season without building a new chassis/suspension setup. On tracks where tire wear is less aggressive they could end up being dominant.
Years ago we complained that there was too much emphasis on aero and not enough on mechanical grip. The racing was boring as hell and the team with the best aero (read: the team that had Adrian Newey) won. Now there is a design compromise between mechanical and aero and people are throwing a fit, saying drivers have to drive to a delta, the team that can use the tires well always wins.
That being said, I'm a bit surprised that Ross Brawn, who was always regarded as one of the best "mechanical" designers in F1, is struggling so much with the tire wear issue. My hunch is Merc top brass was screaming in his ear to build a fast car, and in the pursuit of outright speed they were caught out a bit by the tires. Lotus seem to have noticed the tires would be a big issue in 2013 early on and optimized their design accordingly.
It's too easy to blame the tires. The teams are professionals and they will adapt. Ferrari just showed that flat out can be as quick as a delta sans 1 pit stop, as long as tire wear is borderline between two strategies. If Pirelli has a knee jerk reaction and makes the tires so that everyone two stops, with Ferrari winning on a 3 stopper, how does that change what happened? Basically the teams not winning are whining for the window to be in their favor. I'm sure Red Bull and Merc want more durable tires, Lotus is happy if they're equal or less durable.
Just sit back and enjoy the show