Wolff plays down Mercedes F1 advantage despite another perfect start

The start of the 2020 F1 World Championship season may have been anything other than conventional in buld up but Mercedes’ two wins from two races ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix paint a very familiar picture.

A win for Valtteri Bottas at the season opening Austrian Grand Prix followed by a second place to Lewis Hamilton in the following Styrian Grand Prix means he takes an early lead into the round three at the Hungaroring.

More ominously for its contenders, Mercedes is already more than double the points clear of its nearest rival in the constructors’ championship with 80 points to McLaren’s 39.

With Red Bull still seemingly a click shy of matching Mercedes like-for-like and Ferrari mired well down the order, Mercedes is well placed even at this early stage but it is a visible advantage team boss Wolff is keen to play down.

“Spielberg didn’t always yield the best results for us in recent years, so it feels good to head to Hungary with two victories and a lot of points. We put a lot of effort into finding reliability solutions between the races and it was an impressive team effort to deliver them in time.

“That was echoed by the strong work from the team at the track, all of which ultimately rewarded us with a 1-2 on Sunday. Both drivers did a good job last weekend. Lewis’ pole lap in the rain was one of the best I’ve ever seen and his performance in the race was flawless. Valtteri had a harder time on Saturday, but his damage limitation on Sunday was successful.

“Two wins from two races might sound like the performance picture is clear, but that’s far from the truth. We’ve only raced on a single track so far and it is way too early to make any assumptions. The next race in Hungary will be a different scenario and we’re expecting a challenging fight.

“The Hungaroring has always suited Red Bull and they’ve shown their strength in the slow corners again this year, so they will be very hard to beat.

“Given the calendar changes this year, the Hungaroring is set to be the highest-downforce track in 2020, so it will be interesting to see whose aero package delivers the most at this track. The first two races this year have been highly entertaining and I’m looking forward to another exciting race weekend to conclude the first triple-header of the year.”