Mercedes boss Toto Wolff watched Lewis Hamilton ease to a third Grand Prix success of the season but then warned that his team’s recent domination of the sport is already over with Ferrari now a major threat.
Defending champion Hamilton was able to convert his pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix into a race victory in relative comfort despite a late brake problem, to open up a 27-point lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings.
Nico Rosberg is Hamilton’s nearest challenger but he was not so lucky in Sakhir as his own brake issues with two laps to go allowed Kimi Raikkonen to pass to claim second place – his first podium finish for 18 months – with the German forced to settle for third.
It was still a result that allowed last season’s runner-up to climb up to second in the championship as Sebastian Vettel ruined his own chances of making the top three when he damaged his car while challenging Rosberg, coming home fifth behind the Williams of Valtteri Bottas.
Despite Mercedes leading the Constructors’ Championship by a healthy 52 points after four races, team boss Wolff has now admitted that the Brackley-based outfit has their work cut out to maintain their position through the rest of the season, with Ferrari bouncing back superbly from a disastrous 2014.
“Looking at the result we were not dominant and Ferrari are catching up,” Wolff said.
“We need to do everything we can to continue to beat them.”
Attention will now turn to European action with the next race in Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix on May 8-10, ahead of the iconic Monaco GP two weeks later.
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