Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff believes Red Bull have provided his team with “a necessary wake-up call” following their remarkable early-season revival.
Throughout pre-season testing reigning champions Red Bull suffered a litany of technical issues, and by the first grand prix in Australia, just over two weeks ago, had not even completed a race simulation.
Yet at Melbourne’s Albert Park, and again in Malaysia on Sunday, it has been Red Bull who have at least posed Mercedes a threat in the face of the Brackley-based team’s superiority.
Despite Daniel Ricciardo’s disqualification from his home race Down Under due to a fuel-system irregularity – which is under appeal – the fact he was runner-up to Nico Rosberg served notice Red Bull were finding solutions.
At Sepang, the wet conditions in qualifying undoubtedly came to Red Bull’s aid as Sebastian Vettel came within a fraction of a second of pipping Lewis Hamilton to pole.
During the race itself, although Hamilton sailed off into the distance to claim the 23rd win of his career, Vettel managed to hound Rosberg for the majority of the race en route to finishing third.
Wolff appreciates Mercedes may have the edge now, notably clinching the marque’s first one-two for 59 years in Malaysia, but he has no doubt Red Bull will push them all the way.
“Everybody is very proud at Mercedes we finally achieved the one-two,” said Wolff.
“However, we cannot be complacent because we saw a Red Bull competing strongly. But given they missed out on two thirds of testing, it’s a good wake-up call for us, a necessary wake-up call.”
Asked whether it was a question of when and not if Red Bull would be able to match Mercedes’s pace this season, Wolff added: “In these modern times, this digital world, we tend to forget what happened yesterday.
“We are still talking about a four-time world champion, and here we are winning two races with a package which seems to be very good this season, but it’s not consolidated yet.
“But let’s keep quiet. They (Red Bull) have been bouncing back from what looked to be horrific testing, and they will come back, for sure.”
Given how Rosberg had Vettel breathing down his neck in Malaysia, the early world cham-pionship leader echoed Wolff’s remarks.
“The last day of testing was four weeks ago and they were absolutely nowhere, yet he was right in the back of me, pushing me,” said Rosberg.
“Okay, I had some pace in hand so I could beat him in the end clearly but still, the way they’ve ramped up their pace, very impressive, so we need to keep on it to retain our advantage.”