Mercedes boss Toto Wolff adamant "not one fibre" thinks 2020 season is already over

Mercedes

Wolff adamant "not one fibre" thinks 2020 season is already over

Mercedes has won all three races so far this season

Ian Parkes

Friday 24 July 2020 09:46

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has dismissed claims this year's Formula 1 title race is already over despite the dominance of his team's cars.

With Ferrari 's SF1000 struggling for power and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stating the RB16 is misbehaving aerodynamically, at this early stage in the campaign it appears no team can stop Mercedes from making it seven championships in a row.

The W11 is clearly the class act of the field, in both the wet and dry, as proven across the three race weekends so far in Austria and Hungary by Valtteri Bottas and, in particular, six-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton.

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Wolff, though, will not hear of the campaign being done as he said: "We've had this discussion in the past, and the point is we've only had three weekends.

"If we were to take the 2020 season for granted, like a walk in the park and it's just about picking up the trophy in Paris in December, we wouldn't have the past championships.

"So there is not one fibre in us that thinks this championship is done. It's something that can really catch you out."

With stable regulations, the evolution from last year's car to this year has led Hamilton to suggest it is the best Mercedes he has driven.

Naturally, Wolff can make no apologies for his team simply doing a better job with regard to development than their rivals.

"The dominance, whether it's us, whether it is Red Bull in the 2010 years, or Ferrari in the early 2000s is something that is always a bit odd for the championship," assessed Wolff.

"But it is not up to the team that has made these steps to be seen as responsible for the predictability of the championship.

"We are very keen to race against our fantastic competitors. We like to be out there fighting against Ferrari and Red Bull, we like the challenger brands, like Racing Point in this case, to be part of the game, while Mclaren and Renault need to find their way back to the front.

"I wouldn't wish for nothing more than a strong competition with an unknown outcome every Friday when we start free practice one, but it's very difficult in our position to really change the pecking order.

"We have one key objective, and that is finishing the weekend to the best of our ability and hopefully scoring many points and challenge for a championship. There is nothing else we can do."

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