Mercedes taking Renault and McLaren 'seriously' as contenders

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has insisted that the Silver Arrows are taking Renault and McLaren 'seriously' as title contenders along with Ferrari and Red Bull, as his team attempt to claim their fifth constructor's championship in a row in the 2018 F1 season.

Ferrari were the main challengers to Mercedes last season in both the driver's championship, via Sebastian Vettel, and the constructor's championship, while Red Bull won a few Grand Prix races.

Both these teams are expected to improve further in 2018, but McLaren and Renault also have increased expectations due to some engine changes, and Wolff thinks they could be in the title mix.

"This is the pinnacle of motor racing you need to respect every team and the top drivers," Wolff told Motorsport.com.

"We are taking Ferrari, we are taking Red Bull, we are taking McLaren, we are taking Renault seriously. These guys can fight for a championship and some others might be surprising us.

"I want to remain humble and expect competition from all of these teams and if we are able to align the dots like we have done in the last year then we will be winning races and then we will be fighting for championships and if we don't then we haven't been good enough."

Wolff went on to recognise Ferrari as perhaps Mercedes' main rival for the title once again, having led the rankings early on in the season last year only to drop off the pace.

"How the car performed on track was exceptional and the step they made over the winter was probably the biggest step of all the teams," the Mercedes boss said of Ferrari's last campaign.

"I am happy that we kept it together. We have a record of 11 race victories versus the five of Ferrari and the stopwatch never lies.

"Having said that we need to stay both feet on the ground. Ferrari could have won more races. We're taking them very seriously as a real contender [for 2018] like we do with the other teams."