Wolff fears Ferrari and 'several other teams' despite dominant display in Melbourne

Mercedes head into the Chinese Grand Prix on the back of a dominant weekend in Australia, where the team confirmed the strong signs already seen during testing. The performance advantage over the rest of the field was clear throughout the race and ultimately translated into a commanding one-two finish that was never seriously under threat.

Turning his attention to the Shanghai weekend, the Austrian stressed the importance of finding the right balance as quickly as possible, especially with only 60 minutes of practice available due to the Sprint format.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both made explosive starts at the Australian Grand Prix, immediately gaining positions off the line. The Monegasque even managed to jump ahead of George Russell, with the two drivers then locked in an intense fight for the lead during the opening phase of the race.

Despite that early challenge, Mercedes eventually asserted its dominance, securing a commanding one-two finish in Melbourne and underlining the team’s strong overall performance.

Reflecting on the pace shown by their main rivals, Wolff suggested it may be linked to a particular engine configuration. According to the Mercedes team principal, factors such as the turbo size and hardware setup could make it easier to spin the turbo and therefore deliver stronger launches off the line, even if that potentially comes at the expense of performance in other phases of the lap or the race.