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Wolff believes Canada will offer a 'huge challenge' to Mercedes

Published on 04 Jun 2019 14:16
9
By: Fergal Walsh

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff thinks the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve could provide the Silver Arrows with a big challenge and give their rivals an opportunity to beat them.

Mercedes has enjoyed a successful start to the 2019 season, taking victory at every round so far, while only breaking its streak of one-two finishes last time out in Monaco.

But after the six victories in a row, Wolff believes that the upcoming track in Montreal could allow Ferrari and Red Bull to be closer to the front and in contention for the race win.

"In the past six races, we were very strong in the corners but lost time on the straights," the Austrian said Mercedes' preview for the weekend ahead.

"This will make Canada a huge challenge for us as the track characteristics could favour our opponents - there are many long straights, and fewer corners in which to make up lap time.

"But we're looking forward to the challenge; we've seen some great races in Canada in recent years and expect another action-packed weekend in Montreal."

Monaco was 'not an easy weekend' for Mercedes

Wolff admits that the race in Monaco just over one week ago was tough for Mercedes, as it was hit with the news that its non-executive chairman Niki Lauda had passed away.

The race was also tough for Mercedes, as it was under threat for most of the race from Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

"Monaco was not an easy weekend for the team," commented Wolff. "On the one hand, winning in Monte Carlo is one of the best things a Formula 1 team can experience - especially if it is such a tight race with a nail-biting finish.

"On the other hand, the loss of Niki hit us hard. But we think he would have been proud of the performance we delivered in the circumstances.

"The next race takes us to Canada, the only fly-away race within the European season. To a large extent, the challenges of Montreal are opposite to those of Monaco; the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a high-speed track with relatively long straights and lots of overtaking possibilities."

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Replies (9)

f1dave

Posts: 782
Mercedes have said this about every race so far this year, along with "it was our toughest race ever". It's getting tiring to keep hearing this when they have shown their clear superiority.
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- Jun 4 2019 - 16:03
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Hahahaha! Good joke, Toto!
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- Jun 4 2019 - 17:33
Biggs7

Posts: 38
If Mercedes is lose here than they might as well dominate the rest of remaining races unless Ferrari use this track to do analysis on their weakness and dominate for the rest of the reason. This is a crucial race for Ferrari to redeem themselves. If they win, they might not find the solution to their current problem because they wont be doing a lot of analysis and if they lose they might find the solution by analysing and come out stronger.
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- Jun 4 2019 - 18:30
- Biggs7
  
  Posts: 38
  is losing
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  Jun 4 2019 - 18:32
- abhidbgt
  
  Posts: 283
  Do you think that complacency in an F1 team could creep in that easily? But then again they are Ferrari, if anyone can find a way to do that it would be them. :D
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  Jun 5 2019 - 04:56
RogerF1

Posts: 501
The huge challenge for Merc is how they will avoid not winning
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- Jun 4 2019 - 18:48
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  *Red Bull stroking the red torpedo activation button nervously*
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  Jun 4 2019 - 21:41
xoya

Posts: 583
Yeah. It will be challenging keeping Bottas in the title race.
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- Jun 4 2019 - 20:24
zorba

Posts: 1,714
ze hadden beter geen update van de motor gebracht aangezien ze het toch slechter is volgens wolf ,de concurentie zal dichter zitten wat nut heeft die update nog als ze toch niet sneller kunnen gaan rijden.
of weet wolf misschien niet dat er een nieuwe motor gaat in liggen zouden ze dat verzwegen hebben voor hem?
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- Jun 5 2019 - 19:03