Wolff - “It’s fun to hunt” like in 2013

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff claims it is “fun” to turn from hunted to a hunter this season after so many years of title domination in Formula 1.

Wolff declared himself “very excited” by the battle in Bahrain where Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes out-strategised faster driver Max Verstappen to steal victory from Red Bull.

It is not since 2013, when Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber led Red Bull to the world title, that Mercedes has failed to take the crown and this is the first time since then it has started off behind the pace of any other team.

Wolff said: “For me it felt like 2013 when we suddenly started the season by being the challengers. They have the quicker car and the quicker package and that is very easy to demonstrate.

“It’s an unusual role for us, but it is something I really missed.”

Mercedes’ consecutive run of success, which began in 2014 with its first title, is the longest in F1 history.

The closest any rival has got to beating Wolff’s team was in 2018 when victory was only clinched at the penultimate race and the final gap to second-placed Ferrari was just 84 points.

Mercedes’ performance on Friday at Imola suggests some of Wolff’s pleasure may come from knowing the team’s new car still has the pace to challenge and that while Red Bull may be ahead, success is far from out of reach.

Asked about the team’s performance ahead of Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Wolff added: “[It’s] so much better than Bahrain. The car seemed together. Probably the [cooler] temperatures help a bit because that is where we were suffering.

“It was one of those debriefs that was nice, where [the drivers] said the balance feels in the right place with the odd understeer or exit oversteer, but generally they feel very good with the car.

“Fatigue is always a topic for all of us that travel with this crazy circus working 12 months on because there is truly no time off any more. It is a problem, but I think we have good tools to combat that.

“But that’s what I enjoy in the current situation so much. This is just a fun place. It’s fun to hunt. When you go down there [to the pit wall], we are just enjoying ourselves.”

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