The Mercedes AMG team may have won in Germany but they are aware of “very strong” Ferrari. Even the championship lead could not convince them that they could have it easy in Hungary this weekend.
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The Scuderia Ferrari held a significant edge over the German marquee in terms of pace last weekend. Mercedes only prevailed through a mixture of driver error from Ferrari and strategy calls in the rain.
A cautious Toto Wolff said: “Even though we have taken the lead back in both championships, I still think that Ferrari has a very strong package at the moment and they will be the enemy and the competitor to beat.”
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According to Wolff, Ferrari gained 0.5 seconds on the straights last weekend due to their improvement in engine power.
“This is a very difficult championship with a competitor that is going from strength to strength,” he continued. “We keep adding performance on the car and in the engine and they do the same. Keeping the belief in yourself and the team is going to play an important part in how this championship is going to go.”
The next race is Budapest before the summer break, a tight and twisty track in the Hungaroring. This kind of circuit normally suits a team with less emphasis on straight-line speed, and more on downforce.
However, Ferrari seem to be revelling in both instances. Hungary hasn’t been particularly kind to the power-dominant Mercedes team in recent years.
Wolff said, “Racing is the most important and we always said that if the championship goes into its last third or last quarter and there is a big difference between the drivers then we might make these unpopular calls. But it’s much too early in the season to do this. [On Sunday] we made it in order to bring a one-two home. We would have done it the other way round [too].”
