Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMercedes

Wolff wary Ferrari 'has come alive'

Toto Wolff says Mercedes is wary Ferrari "has come alive" courtesy of its Singapore victory, even if he doesn't expect a repeat in Japan.

Sebastian Vettel was in imperious form to win at the Marina Bay Circuit last weekend, beating Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo as Mercedes struggled. While Wolff is confident Mercedes will be the team to beat in the Japanese Grand Prix, he will not take the Ferrari threat lightly.

"You always have to look at them – and also Red Bull made a step forward," Wolff told Sky Sports. "They are strong competitors and you cannot expect or take it for granted that you are always quickest and always winning races. This is not normal for Formula One so we are going to have an eye on them.

"This circuit should certainly suit us much more than Singapore but certainly the enemy has come alive!"

However, Wolff admits the manner of Ferrari's victory in Singapore was unexpected and will make any Mercedes' victories in future sweeter as a result.

"I think in particular the last one was a surprise because the way they won it, complete domination. But everyone is keen to see good competition in Formula One and especially Ferrari, such an iconic brand, to see them bouncing back is good for the sport and good for us to have a strong competitor, it makes it more precious to win."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.