Mercedes insist they consider both Max Verstappen and the two Ferrari’s as threats for the Formula 1 title this season.
With the German manufacturer dominating the first half of 2019, claiming nine of 11 wins, most believe a straight fight between Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas is the main fight.
Even two wins in three races for Verstappen still doesn’t have many people believing in a miraculous comeback, but team boss Toto Wolff doesn’t think Mercedes can be so relaxed.
“I think there are 10 more races to go, so 260 points to score. What’s our advantage? Sixty-odd?” he said via PlanetF1 with the gap between Max and Lewis at 63 points.
“You can see from the sheer maths that Max is somebody we need to take seriously and consider as a title rival in the same way we need to consider the two Ferrari drivers as title rivals.
“We cannot afford to take the foot off the throttle.”
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Indeed, the Austrian did send a warning suggesting Red Bull’s resurgence will only motivate Mercedes to improve.
“We had a good streak of success and it feels now that probably the push that we need to do is even more,” he said.
“The others are catching up, and it’s easier to catch up than to maintain the level and setting the benchmark.
“There’s a reason why no one ever won six consecutive Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships because it is not easy. I guess we all know that, but we’ve got to push harder and smarter in order to stay ahead.”
However, Wolff does welcome the competition and the significance of Honda becoming a key player.
“First of all the Red Bull chassis was always among the best, and it still is, and then Honda has made a big step forward from last year to this year, and all credit to them,” he stated.
“I’m happy to see that for F1, because a strong Honda is good for F1, good for the competition, and at the end, if there’s a fourth power unit supplier that has a competitive package that is generally positive for all of us.
“It also shows us that we’ve got to reinvent ourselves in a way, and I see this as a really positive journey.”