Toto Wolff issues Mercedes warning as upgrades confirmed

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has warned the Silver Arrows that it must get on top of its reliability problems or risk being caught by its rivals.

While the Brackley-based outfit has largely dominated the start of the season with six wins from seven races, its performance advantage has shrunk considerably.

Not only are its rivals, particularly Ferrari, catching up, but they are also taking big points out of Mercedes' advantage. This is due to numerous reliability problems.

Mercedes has suffered several power unit-related issues, which saw George Russell retire in Canada and Kimi Antonelli retire in Barcelona.

It is costing the German manufacturer valuable points, with Wolff knowing ahead of this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix that it cannot continue.

"Barcelona acted as a benchmark for our current performance and, having won the first six races, offered a reality check," said Wolff. 

"Others have gained ground quickly and we need to respond. We are in a fight for both championships but must improve if we want to come out on top come the end of the season.

"Our Achilles heel so far has been reliability. We have lost a large amount of points across both cars in recent races; if we don't put together clean weekends, our competitors will happily take advantage."

In a bid to end its reliability trouble, Mercedes is introducing an upgrade package at the Red Bull Ring, featuring performance and reliability improvements.

"We are not standing still in our efforts; we will bring a few updates to Austria this weekend with a focus on improving both performance and reliability," added Wolff.

"The margins are tight, and will be even tighter around Spielberg given the length of the lap. We need to put together a better weekend than we have in recent races but if we can deliver to our maximum, then we know we can challenge for victory."