F1 | Mercedes, Wolff: "We must not underestimate the competition, in 2018 we will start from scratch"

Reset the successes of the last four years and launch into 2018 with the usual determination. Toto wolff, interviewed by ESPN, dictated the line for next year, calling attention to Mercedes and rejecting the hypothesis of a physiological relaxation: “I think we have a good organization, somehow the wheel is turning well, but still you shouldn't underestimate the competition. You can go very fast and all of a sudden find yourself at the bottom of the leaderboard with the car not working like everyone else's; we have seen how the Ferrari managed to transform a season so-so (2016, ed) in one in which she was a competitor for the World Championship. So I think it's important stay humble, forget about your successes: we are removing all the stickers celebrating the World Cup you just won from the doors: in 2018 we start again from scratch".

Bottas' contribution, in his first season at Brackley, was highly appreciated by Wolff: “I would say that the team is strong at the moment. Bottas has made a great contribution if we think about the development of the championship. Bottas-Hamilton is probably the best driver combination we could have".

The Austrian manager then jokingly responded to Ross Brawn, who in recent weeks had said he was scared by the prospect of a Mercedes dominant also in the next season: “Well, Ross is partly to blame for this! He laid the initial pillars way back in 2012, when the team was struggling a lot, hiring people like Aldo Costa. Now he has a problem: he is on the other side and he must do everything possible to ensure that they are there more winning teams".

Federico Martino