Mercedes taking no comfort from F1 points buffer

Toto Wolff is taking no comfort in Mercedes’ points buffer to Ferrari or Lewis Hamilton’s advantage over Sebastian Vettel in the Formula 1 constructors’ and drivers’ championships as the German marque bids for a fifth successive title sweep in 2018.

Hamilton’s took his fourth victory in five races in Singapore earlier this month to move into a 40-point lead over Vettel in the drivers’ championship, with Mercedes’ advantage over Ferrari growing to 37 points in the constructors’ standings.

Despite the healthy points advantage with six rounds remaining this year, Mercedes F1 boss Wolff said the team can take little comfort from the standings given the ferocity of the fight with Ferrari this year.

"It's obviously better to have a lead than to not have it, but there are six races remaining and plenty of points to score, so it doesn't give us any comfort,” Wolff said.

“We will continue to concentrate on every single session, trying to optimise the car in every possible area - and we will go for the race win.

“There is no naïve optimism about our situation within the team: our mind-set is very positive, we are energised, the factories are buzzing and we're excited for the fight that we will certainly have in the next six races.”

Mercedes heads to this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix defending a perfect record at the Sochi Autodrom, having won all four runnings of the F1 race.

However, Wolff feels there are a number of unknowns heading into the race weekend, especially since the shift in date from April to October for this year.

“With the race being held in late September, we're going back to weather conditions that will be similar to those of 2014 and 2015, when the Russian Grand Prix took place in early October,” Wolff said.

“We don't have any data from the current regulation cars in those conditions in Sochi, so this adds another challenge to the race. 
 
"We have a good track record in Sochi but we know that Ferrari and Red Bull will give it everything to break our winning streak, so we must fight as hard as ever to make sure we bring home as many points as possible.”