Ferrari and Red Bull ‘pretty much where we are now’ - Wolff

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Toto Wolff says the Canadian Grand Prix shows Ferrari and Red Bull are both close to the same level as Mercedes in terms of outright pace.

Lewis Hamilton won for a second consecutive race but was pushed hard by Sebastian Vettel, with the Ferrari driver finishing just five seconds adrift of the defending champion. Max Verstappen also held off Nico Rosberg in the closing stages and Wolff says the race in Montreal displayed how close the top three teams now are in terms of performance.

“After Monaco, Canada was another case of good teamwork bringing a result which could easily have gone the other way,” Wolff said. “Both drivers lost position at the start and, on the same strategy, it would have been extremely tough for Lewis to get past Sebastian.

“The speed of both the Ferrari and Red Bull is pretty much where we are now, as demonstrated by the battle between Nico and Max late in the race. We are seeing the convergence of performance between teams that naturally comes with stable regulations - and that has made the competition tougher than ever.”

Wolff says the victory in Canada is all the more satisfying with the team having delivered a “flawless” performance in support of the drivers.

“Our performance in the garage, on the pit wall and during the stops was flawless last weekend - but there are still areas we must improve. Starts are the prime example. We've had a couple of great starts this season but also a few that were not so good, which is something we need to analyse and understand.

“At one third distance this season, we are in an enviable position. But we will have to work extremely hard to maintain it. The next battle takes us to Baku and a brand new venue for Formula One, which is great for the sport. We're looking forward to the challenge of a new street circuit.”

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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.