Mercedes' battle with Ferrari & Red Bull will 'intensify' in Barcelona

Toto Wolff says the battle for supremacy in Formula 1 between Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull is set to "intensify" at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix. The Silver Arrows have won three of the last four races in Barcelona, but their title as F1's dominant team has begun to dramatically slip in 2018.

Lewis Hamilton's victory in Baku last time out was down more to luck than judgement as Sebastian Vettel dominated much of the race and Valtteri Bottas suffered a cruel puncture once he had taken charge around the safety car.

It did, however, end a three-race drought without a win that represented Mercedes' worst run in the hybrid era.

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With Red Bull and Ferrari having eaten into the Silver Arrows' dominance last year, Mercedes old habit of dominating on Saturdays also appears to be up with Vettel qualifying on pole in each of the last three races.

With upgrades the first batch of upgrades this season the order of the weekend up and down the grid in Barcelona, Wolff expects the battle will only get tougher for the reigning champions.

The Mercedes team principal said: "After an exciting start to 2018 we're now heading into the European season with races like Spain and Monaco that present very different challenges than some of the previous tracks.

"Overtaking is difficult in Barcelona and even more so in Monte Carlo, making track position key for a good race result. So, every team will work hard to get every last bit of performance out of the car in qualifying.

"The European season is also the time when teams start introducing bigger upgrades to their cars.

"It's the first step of the development race that looks like it could run to the very end of the season.

"It will be interesting to see how much performance the teams can find with their upgrades and what impact those upgrades will have on the team ranking - both at the front and in the midfield.

"Barcelona holds mixed memories for us - a double DNF in 2016, but also a dramatic win for Lewis last year after passing Vettel on track for the lead.

"We're hoping that this year's Spanish Grand Prix will be a good race for us, but we know that it will be tough. The first four races indicate very strongly that we will see the three-way battle continue and - if anything - intensify."