Toto Wolff wary of Mercedes 'heroes' peril

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has stated Mercedes is keen to avoid being labelled as “heroes” following its strong start to the new season.

The Brackley-based squad has won the opening three rounds of the F1 campaign with George Russell prevailing at the season-opener before Kimi Antonelli went back-to-back.

Its impressive start has drawn comparisons to the 2014 season when another massive regulation change saw Mercedes rocket to the head of the pecking order.

However, Wolff is wary of the opportunity rival teams have to catch up under F1's current set-up.

“First of all, we need to stay feet on the ground,” Wolff told media including RacingNews365. “We're three races in. 

“We're looking like the heroes, but three races from now on, people could be saying, '[you're not heroes anymore, because the others got stronger'.

“So I wouldn't want at that stage to compare the successful era with what we've started here.”

Mercedes' return to consistent winning ways comes after a handful of seasons operating off the front-running pace.

Despite the years of difficulty, Wolff insists he never lacked belief that Mercedes could turn itself around.

“But definitely, we'd never stop believing that we would eventually land a car and build the structures that can do that with the right drivers,” he said.

“To see that finally coming together is nice.”