Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff says his team will need “24/7 shifts” if it is to triumph in its championship fight with Ferrari in 2017.
After four rounds, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel leads Lewis Hamilton by 13 points while Mercedes hold a one point advantage over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.
While Ferrari has consistently been delivering in all conditions, Mercedes has struggled for consistency particularly when it comes to the Pirelli tyres.
“The prevailing feeling is that there is lots of homework to do to come back stronger with a car that can perform at a consistent level every weekend,” Wolff said.
“I have the feeling that we are moving in the right direction, but we need 24/7 shifts to achieve our ultimate targets.
“Barcelona will be interesting as our pre-season was not spectacular in Spain. It’s a very different track to Sochi and we’ll be running with harder tyres.
“We are taking this season one race at a time. If we deliver the best possible work from Friday onwards, then we’ll be ready to win and fight with Ferrari.”
Hamilton qualified over four tenths slower than his team-mate in Sochi and he finished a distant fourth in the race, prompting concern from the team who struggled to explain the British driver’s issues.
“We have spent our time unpicking what happened to understand why we couldn’t get the car in the right window so he could feel comfortable with it,” Wolff added.
“There are no magic bullets to understanding that, just a lot of hard work and attention to detail.
“We must give him the tools he needs to do the job in the next races and that will be a big focus for us.”
