Toto Wolff discloses 'never confident' stance over 'different ball game' facing Mercedes

Toto Wolff has maintained he is "never confident" over strong form continuing for Mercedes, given the "swings in performance" evident in the current generation of F1 cars.

Courtesy of George Russell, the Brackley-based squad took an assured victory from pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix, with the British driver also setting the fastest lap of the race.

Kimi Antonelli also secured the first podium finish of his F1 career at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, becoming the third-youngest in the championship's history to reach the rostrum and the first Italian to do so since Jarno Trulli in 2009.

Nonetheless, Wolff is acutely aware of the precarious nature of strong form in F1, even with the calendar entering a stretch of races the eight-time constructors' champions enjoyed last season.

Following Russell being gifted victory at the Red Bull Ring after Lando Norris and Max Verstappen clashed in the closing stages 12 months ago, Mercedes took further wins at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps through Lewis Hamilton.

But the team's boss knows nothing is guaranteed, despite that run one year ago. When asked how confident he is over his team replicating the performance it showed in Montreal over the coming rounds, Wolff was direct in his response.

"Never confident, because the swings in performance are still there," the Austrian told media including RacingNews365.

"You see it last year that on some tracks, it wasn't even close to who was second but we dominated throughout the weekend, and that's a little bit the pattern we have seen [in Canada]."

Wolff went on to highlight the contrasting demands of the circuit in Spielberg, commenting how it will be a "different ball game" there.

"And Austria is going to be a different ball game, different track layout, different challenges," the 53-year-old explained.

"So all of our eyes and brains are concentrated on Austria now. This is done, tick the box.