Wolff expecting another 'dog fight' with Ferrari at Monza

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted that his team's victory over Ferrari last weekend at Spa had been a very hard-fought and close affair.

And he added that the next race, SUnday's Italian Grand Prix at Monza, will likely be a similarly tough challenge.

"We said before Spa that it's dangerous to make assumptions this year," he said on Wednesday. "And the race weekend demonstrated why that's the case.

"It was a dog fight with Ferrari and, although we came out on top, we did so by a small margin only.

"We can expect the same kind of close battle at every race this year," he added. "There will be no races where it is a walk in the park .

"Our focus is simply on extracting every possible point from each race in succession, beginning this weekend in Monza.

"Monza is a circuit that has been good to us in recent years," he commented. "It rewards low drag and peak power, both of which are among the strengths of our package.

"But braking stability and low-speed grip are also crucial through the chicanes, and these are areas where Ferrari has held an advantage.

"The team that finds the best overall compromise will come out on top."

Mercedes not engaging in contract talks with Hamilton - Wolff

The close battle with Ferrari means that the team won't be able to divert its technical development to the 2018 campaign any time soon.

"This is often the time of year when thoughts turn to the following season. But our mission is clear: to win before and after a major regulation change.

"Nobody said it would be easy and it is stretching our limits in every direction," he conceded.

"We are still pushing hard with our development to squeeze every last bit of performance from the W08.

"We are ready for an epic battle all the way to the finish line in Abu Dhabi,' said Wolff. "The pendulum will swing again a number of times before Abu Dhabi, the season so far has shown us this much."

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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.