Mercedes taking 'everyone seriously' as title contenders

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has insisted that his team are taking 'everyone seriously' as potential contenders for the 2018 constructor's championship as the Silver Arrows attempt to win the title for the fifth time in a row to consolidate their position at the pinnacle of motorsport.

Wolff's team are the current favourites for the upcoming season, but improvements are expected from their nearest rivals Red Bull, who have Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo in their ranks, and Ferrari, who have four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel behind the wheel.

The Mercedes boss recognised these two teams as the main rivals, but also mentioned McLaren and indeed 'everyone' else as serious contenders.

“If you would have asked the question last year we would have said Red Bull will be the main contender,” Wolff said when asked about which team would give Mercedes the biggest threat.

“As it happened it was Ferrari. I think it’s very dangerous before the season has started to reduce the number of potential competitors to one or two teams.

“You need to take everybody seriously. Ferrari was very strong [in 2017], Red Bull was very strong. I am curious to see how McLaren will perform with the Renault engine. The step-up of the works team itself will be interesting to see.

“Williams has gone quite radical. I think you need to keep taking everybody seriously at this stage.”

These comments were echoed by current world champion Lewis Hamilton, who reckons that Mercedes and Ferrari will need to keep an eye on Red Bull in particular, but refused to give any concrete predictions until he has seen each team perform.

“I’d be guessing right now and anything I say now might be different and I’d be contradicting myself,” he said.

“Last year Red Bull was over one second behind at the beginning and their rate of development was faster than anyone else.

“Will they continue on that climb into this season? If they do it is a challenge for Ferrari and us to follow up on that. Who is going to be fastest? We have no idea.

“It is a small step for example on this car [the W09] compared to the brand new car last year so it will be interesting to see.

“Last year if you look at Max [Verstappen], you have to expect him to have a strong year and Daniel [Ricciardo] as well. The same for Sebastian [Vettel] and Ferrari if they have a similar start to last year.”