Lights Out: Mercedes' Monaco mind games

Toto Wolff has been quick to shoot down Mercedes' chances of making it three wins on the bounce at the Monaco Grand Prix, insisting that Ferrari and Red Bull are the favourites for the flag. But is it all just typical mind games?

Lewis Hamilton heads to Monte Carlo on the back of wins in Baku and Barcelona, which have put Mercedes top of the constructors' standings ahead of the Prancing Horse, but Wolff laughed off talk that his team were favourites for Monaco.

Clearly, Wolff is playing down the chances of a win just in case his team do not emerge victorious, so he can say 'well I told you so'.

It is the equivalent of dumping your girlfriend or boyfriend in fear that they may dump you, despite the fact you have no evidence to the fact.

Does Wolff really believe this, or is it all part of the mind games between Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull, which ironically have started to numb the mind?

This comes from Wolff claiming last week that he thought Red Bull boss Christian Horner was "going to have a heart attack" at the thought of Mercedes and Ferrari once again complaining about Liberty Media's proposed changes for 2019.

The verbal jousting between the teams seems have gone stratospheric in the 2018 campaign, so hopefully as it continues we can finally get some honesty. For example:

Ferrari: 'We do not care whatsoever about the direction of the sport...WE ARE THE SPORT'

Mercedes: 'We hate Ferrari, but they bullied us into agreeing with them about Liberty Media'

Red Bull: 'F those two teams - we'll win everything if they clear off'

Bliss.

READ MORE: Could Hamilton really be jealous of Rosberg?
READ MORE: When is the Monaco Grand Prix? Qualifying, start time, most wins
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