Wolff: Mercedes stronger than 12 months ago

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has issued a warning to his Formula 1 rivals by claiming the German manufacturer is “in a stronger position in both championships than we were 12 months ago”.

Wolff’s squad leads both the F1 drivers’ and constructors’ world championships approaching round seven of the 2018 campaign, which marks the one-third distance in the season, and heads to a happy hunting ground in Canada having seen Lewis Hamilton claim victory in Montreal for the past three consecutive years.

With Mercedes eager to press on with its advantage at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – while Hamilton has the opportunity to match Michael Schumacher’s all-time Canada wins record of seven this weekend – Wolff feels his team is in a stronger shape compared to last year despite claiming just two wins so far in 2018 compared to three victories at the same stage last year.

“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 has also hinted Mercedes may delay power unit updates at Canada, wanting to bring ‘more performance as soon as possible’, as he waits with interest to see what its rivals can produce this weekend.

Both Renault and Honda have confirmed it will debut part updates to its power units in Canada, while Ferrari is rumoured to also be introducing minor improvements at the power-dependent track in Montreal.

“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 said. “It will be a close-fought weekend - as it has been at every race so far this year.”