Mercedes 'Will Give Everything' To Counter Ferrari, Red Bull Challenge, Wolff Says

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team principal Toto Wolff called on his team to step up their game and made it clear that they cannot leave any more “points on the table” if they want to win the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles in 2018.

The Silver Arrows team had a difficult weekend in Canada — a track they have dominated in the last four seasons. It all started with Mercedes failing to introduce their planned upgraded power unit, which saw them struggle for performance during qualifying and the race.

Sebastian Vettel cruised to his third win of the season, while Valtteri Bottas was the leading Mercedes finishing second — seven seconds behind the Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, had to settle for fifth place — over 20 seconds behind the German.

After Mercedes dominance for the last four years, this year they were being challenged in every race. Ferrari and Red Bull Racing have made steps forward with the former, their closest challenger.

Ferrari have won three of the seven races thus far with Mercedes and Red Bull equally sharing the other four between them. Wolff welcomed the challenge and remains confident the Brackley-based team can overcome the challenges and win their fifth consecutive title.

“The weekend in Canada didn't meet our expectations," Wolff said, as quoted on the team’s official site. "In the past, Montreal was a track where we were fighting for the win, but this year we lacked the performance on Saturday and Sunday.”

"We analysed the weekend and understand why we didn't do better, but that doesn't change the fact that we left points on the table," he said.

"This season's battle is intense and we need to be on top of our game every weekend to win races and to fight for this Championship,” he added. "We are facing an exciting challenge this year and we will give it everything. This team has shown in the past that it is capable of overcoming obstacles and we are working hard to overcome this one as well."

The battle between the three teams will resume at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France on June 24. The race at Le Castellet will be the start of the first triple-header in the sport’s history.

The teams will travel to France for the race on June 24, after which they head to Austria and then to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. Wolff is certain that three back-to-back races will push the teams to the limit, but admits that it is also an opportunity to score many points and build momentum for the rest of the campaign.

Moreover, the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard is unknown for all the teams as the circuit is returning to the calendar for the first time since 1990. The Mercedes, however, will be favorites, especially if they introduce their upgraded power unit.

“France should be an interesting race," the Mercedes boss explained. "We don't often get to race on a track where we have little to no historical data.”

"It makes preparing for the weekend a bit trickier than usual, but that element of the unknown also adds to the challenge. The French Grand Prix marks the first race of the triple header, which will test all F1 teams to their limits, but also offers the chance to score a lot of points over the course of three weeks - which is precisely what we're setting out to do,” he said.