Mercedes boss Toto Wolff insists the team cannot afford to relax at any point for the remainder of the season as they look to fend off Ferrari and Red Bull in a three-way championship scrap.
The Silver Arrows holds a slender lead in both championships ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix – a race in which Mercedes has won the last three events in Montreal.
With Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes sharing two wins apiece from the opening six rounds, the latter has found itself contesting a six-way duel at each of the circuits this year after a period of dominating the sport.
Although Wolff believes the Brackley-based outfit is in a stronger place to this time last year, he has warned the team it must not relax, with a lot of points at stake in the coming races.
“After six races, we can see that we are in a stronger position in both championships than we were 12 months ago,” Wolff said.
“But we also know that the battle is more fierce, with ourselves, Ferrari and Red Bull in the contention for race wins every weekend; there is not a moment to relax.
“In recent years, Mercedes has performed well in Montreal – and it’s one of Lewis’ most successful circuits, too. However, past performances bring no guarantee of success this year.
“We will need to make sure we get the most from all the tyre compounds, including the Hypersoft, if we want to come out on top this weekend.”
Wolff also confirmed Mercedes would be bringing an up-to-date spec power unit to Canada, with a series of teams expected to also take new engines at a circuit prone to be power dominant.
“We expect a number of teams to take their scheduled second power units this weekend, including all the Mercedes-powered cars, and we are pushing hard to bring more performance to the car as soon as possible,” he added. “It will be a close-fought weekend – as it has been at every race so far this year.”
