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Mercedes sends out early F1 2018 warning to rivals

Mercedes boss has sent out an early warning to its rivals for 2018 after confirming the team understands its car's 'diva' characteristics.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has applauded his entire squad for unlocking the full potential of its ‘diva' W08 Formula 1 car to secure a fourth consecutive world drivers' and constructors' championship, while he has sent out an early warning to its rivals for 2018.

During the early races in 2017 in the introduction to the new technical regulations and new Pirelli tyres, Mercedes' pace changed dramatically from one race to the next while Ferrari looked to have jumped ahead of the German manufacturer.

Wolff has praised Mercedes' continual efforts "to leave no stone unturned" to find a wider and more secure operating window for its W08 which enabled Lewis Hamilton to become the most decorated British driver in F1 history thanks to his fourth world title which was sealed last weekend in Mexico with two races to spare.

While celebrations continue for Mercedes after clinching "the hardest fought" F1 world titles, Wolff has sent out a warning to its rivals as thoughts begin to switch to 2018.

"We plan to keep the characteristics of our diva that we like but to get rid of the ones that have caused us difficulties," Wolff said. "Many of the teams have struggled to understand the new cars and tyres, why they function one day and not the other.

"If we look at the qualifying statistics and the race statistics, the W08 was the quickest car with the quickest driver.

"But we had some oscillations along the way, and we had some races where we struggled. We understand pretty well why that was the case. Now we just have to come up with a way of optimising it for next year. In the process, we will be leaving no stone unturned."

Mercedes may use the final two races of 2017 to commence early preparations for 2018, joining the likes of Force India and Haas who have already publicly confirmed its focus switch to next year.

Zdroj: crash.net