Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMercedes

Ferrari a threat to Mercedes dominance - Wolff

Toto Wolff believes Mercedes will face two big threats to its dominance over the coming seasons.

Mercedes secured a second consecutive constructors' championship courtesy of Lewis Hamilton's victory in Russia last weekend, with the team currently boasting a bigger points total than at the same stage last season. However, Wolff believes the improvements shown by Ferrari will threaten that dominance, with new regulations in 2017 also on the horizon.

“I wouldn’t say that next year we are favourites," Wolff told F1i during an exclusive interview. "I would very much see Ferrari in a position to be very competitive next year and from 2017 it’s then the same situation for everybody. So for the sake of Formula One, for making it interesting and spectacular, changing it and changing the cars is - in my opinion - the right formula.”

While acknowledging how a major regulation change could shake up the competitive order, Wolff sees 2017 as an opportunity for Mercedes to prove itself once again.

“It’s definitely an opportunity and a challenge. The rules are changing, we know from a historic context that his is a time of opportunity and a time of risk, and we are up for the challenge.”

Toto Wolff exclusive interview: Behind the Mercedes dominance

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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.