Wolff: Mercedes can’t afford to slow down

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff says his team cannot afford to stop pushing on the development front if it wants to keep its rivals at bay, as Formula One returns to Europe for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Mercedes kicked off its title defence in fine style by storming to a 1-2 finish in Melbourne's season opener but a resurgent Scuderia Ferrari has since been making life much more difficult for the defending champions.

Sebastian Vettel defeated both W06 Hybrids on merit at Sepang while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen came very close to upset Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain three weeks ago.

Although Mercedes remains unbeaten in qualifying, courtesy of Hamilton’s four consecutive pole positions, Vettel has already managed to line up alongside the defending champion twice.

The German is currently third in the drivers’ table, 27 points behind the Briton but only one adrift of his team-mate Nico Rosberg. In the Constructors’ race, Mercedes can boast a bigger tally than last year at the same time, but the gap to its nearest rivals has been halved following Ferrari’s eye-catching 2015 upturn.

While Wolff is pleased with his squad’s achievements, he remains equally aware of the necessity not to rest on its laurels.

“We scored more points in the first four races of 2015 than in 2014 and enjoyed better reliability; the team is in a very strong position,” he said.

“The difference is the competitive situation: in 2014, we had a lead of over 100 points in the Constructors' Championship; this year, it's 52 points and we are in a close battle at every race weekend.

“Every single team member in Brackley and Brixworth knows that we can't afford to take our foot off the gas so we are pushing hard with developments to the car and the power unit for the coming races.”

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