09/05/2018
NEWS STORY
While Azerbaijan was a write-off for Red Bull, the fact is that, if nothing else, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen's shenanigans finally allowed Mercedes to open its 2018 win account - and that's something we didn't envisage writing a month or so ago.
As a result, as the European season gets underway, Ferrari has two wins, Mercedes one and Red Bull one also. On the other hand, Mercedes has only one pole position to its credit thus far.
While all the teams will bring updates to the Spanish track, Toto Wolff admits that his team will need to dig deeper than ever.
"After an exciting start to 2018 we're now heading into the European season with races like Spain and Monaco that present very different challenges than some of the previous tracks," says the Austrian. "Overtaking is difficult in Barcelona and even more so in Monte Carlo, making track position key for a good race result. So every team will work hard to get every last bit of performance out of the car in qualifying.
"The European season is also the time when teams start introducing bigger upgrades to their cars. It's the first step of the development race that looks like it could run to the very end of the season. It will be interesting to see how much performance the teams can find with their upgrades and what impact those upgrades will have on the team ranking - both at the front and in the midfield.
"Barcelona holds mixed memories for us - a double DNF in 2016, but also a dramatic win for Lewis last year after passing Vettel on track for the lead.
"We're hoping that this year's Spanish Grand Prix will be a good race for us, but we know that it will be tough. The first four races indicate very strongly that we will see the three-way battle continue and - if anything - intensify."
Which can only be good for all of us.