Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has emphasised that his team must not take its current success for granted in Formula 1, following another victory.
Mercedes has not been beaten since last October’s Mexican Grand Prix, during which period Lewis Hamilton has taken six victories, with Valtteri Bottas adding another two to his tally.
Mercedes’ strong start to 2019 has already left it seemingly en route to a sixth successive Constructors’ Championship after opening a lead of 118 points over Ferrari.
In the Drivers’ battle Hamilton heads Bottas by 17 points, with lead non-Mercedes driver – Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel – already 55 points down on the five-time World Champion.
When the notion of an unbeaten season was put to Wolff, he retorted: “I mean we were close in losing [in Monaco].
“Considering that it’s a track where you can’t overtake, it was still [close] – he [Max Verstappen] still tried and could’ve made the pass.
“I think going back to normal race tracks we need to accept that we, in terms of tyre life, we need to learn from Monaco and understand why that was.
“In this situation in Montreal you lose the race. I think from a mindset, we must never be carried away. We’re just flying at the moment, but we were a bit lucky to actually win that race.”
In recent seasons Monaco has been one of Mercedes’ weakest circuits, prompting suggestions that – having won there – the team is now in a strong position to contend for wins at every venue.
“I think every single one is a great challenge,” said Wolff on the upcoming grands prix.
“Because Monaco, traditionally and historically wasn’t our best track. We knew that from the slow corners performance that we saw in Barcelona we have a chance but Monaco is different.
“So, from pure car performance over a single lap, definitely we were the quickest.
“Montreal we did great last year. It’s a really exciting challenge and another great motivation to go there and try to perform as good as we can.”
