Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff admits it is very difficult for his team to gauge their ongoing battle with Ferrari as the momentum ebbs and flows at each race.
After the first five races, it the defending world champions leading with three wins to two against their Italian rivals but the performance difference between them has been minimal throughout.
With each race, therefore, being won predominantly on strategy rather than pace, the Austrian admits it is impossible for Mercedes to feel comfortable.
“It’s always good to come away from a race weekend with a points advantage, no matter how small,” Wolff said after Lewis Hamilton’s victory in Spain saw the Brackley outfit move eight points clear of Ferrari in the Constructors’ standings.
“But the gap is just that: very small. We are in a massive fight with Ferrari. On one side, this is very exciting and challenging. But on the other side, it is going to stretch us to our limits. You cannot base your current assessment on the balance of power on just Barcelona.”
Toto also regretted the problems that Valtteri Bottas endured in Catalonia adding: “It was painful to lose 15 valuable points with Valtteri retiring from P3.“We’ve identified the root cause of the problem, which was the turbo.
“We’ve identified the root cause of the problem, which was the turbo. We haven’t seen that defect before, which shows you that you need to be double diligent. This is a technical sport and if you stretch your limits, you’ll encounter technical problems.”
This weekend the next chapter will be written as F1 makes the annual stop on the historic streets of Monte Carlo, a race Wolff anticipates to be like none of the previous five.
“We expect Monaco to be a completely different ball game to Barcelona,” he said. “The circumstances, working environment and driving challenges are completely different to anywhere else – and you need to get everything exactly right if you want to perform to your maximum around those streets.
“Not every factor is under your control, either, so you need to turn fortune in your favour at the right time if you want everything to come together.
“Every weekend will push us to the limit; this is the new reality of F1 in 2017. The last three years were extraordinary,” he added.
“This competition means that you won’t be winning easily – but that you’ll have a fierce fight on your hands. Because of that, the feeling is even greater when you manage to come out on top, as we did in Spain.”