02/08/2020
NEWS STORY
While we all get a little tired of the default underdog stance, there is no arguing that Mercedes is the benchmark to which all teams aspire, and we're not only talking F1.
Dare we say it, but the team's approach to its racing, its attention to detail its constant pursuit of perfection is... Germanic.
Sadly, however, team boss Toto Wolff admits that his team's dominance, its refusal to get complacent and settle, is not making it many friends.
"When you look at sports teams, their success, when it kind of tails off and goes, I think it's when you get complacent, when you start taking things for granted, or when the team dissipates," he told Channel 4.
"At the moment, we have a very strong team," he continued. "We're all aligned. We have the same values and objectives and we want to stay together. But this is no guarantee for the future.
"I guess with that kind of performance, we're not making a lot of new friends," he admitted. "So we are getting attacks on every front and everything is being questioned. That is another fight we need to sustain, but I guess you'd rather have that than the people having pity on you."
However, despite having won all three races thus far and claimed pole at all four, the Austrian refuses to believe that the titles are in the bag again.
"If we would've had that mind-set, I don't think we would have won the championships that we have," he said. "We are permanently self-critical and doubting ourselves, and that has pushed us forwards.
"Today's qualifying session is really good. There is nothing to say to that and I am just so proud about the job the team has done... but tomorrow is race day and I hope we can carry the momentum forward and we can bring the race to a happy ending like we did in qualifying.
"The only downside that I've seen this weekend was that we were not as competitive when it got hot. It will be a topic next week. Another 30 degrees weekend in the UK and then Barcelona."
He can't help himself, can he?
Check out our Race Day gallery from Silverstone, here.