Toto Wolff believes Mercedes needs to keep "both feet on the ground" despite its strong form heading into the summer break.
The Austrian feels that whilst his team is trending in the right direction, whilst some rivals are not, he does not want to "pre-empt" how the rest of the year will unfold.
Having taken just one victory in the contemporary ground-effects era that began in 2022, the Brackley-based team has now won three of the past four grand prix.
Whilst George Russell inherited his Austrian Grand Prix success, Lewis Hamilton's two triumphs - at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps - were on merit.
Mercedes and its two drivers are too far back in the champion races to seriously threaten Red Bull and Max Verstappen, but the team heads into the second half of the year in a position to fight for wins week-in-week-out - even if Wolff will not be drawn into forecasting.
"I think we need to remain both feet on the ground," the 52-year-old told media including RacingNews365 when asked what Mercedes' recent form means for the final 10 rounds of the season.
"The swings of performance, you see a trend, definitely that's positive on our side. With some other teams, you see a negative If trend, but I don't think we should really pre-empt how the second half of the season is gonna go."
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Red Bull started the 2024 F1 season in the same imperious form it ended the previous year.
Verstappen and Sergio Perez took three one-two finishes across the opening four rounds in dominant fashion, but the RB20's performance advantage has now vanished - and the Mexican driver's form has fallen off a cliff.
Ferrari has taken a step towards Red Bull, but the notable progress belongs to McLaren and Mercedes.
In the nine rounds from and including the Miami Grand Prix, the two teams have claimed five victories between them.
McLaren now trails Red Bull by just 42 points in the constructors' championship and on current trajectory, will win the title.
F1 now finds itself in a position where it is difficult to predict which of those three teams will be strongest on any given weekend, and Ferrari is also still in the fight - something Wolff is well aware of.
"I think it's a tough fight. There's four teams ahead, that keep giving it everything," the Mercedes team principal added.
"So, I think we can be carefully optimistic. But, we gotta prove it - there's 10 races to go."
Also interesting:
In the latest episode of the RacingNews365 podcast, Ian, Sam and Nick look back at last weekend's Belgian GP and look ahead to the summer break! George Russell's disqualification is discussed as well as what Red Bull needs to do to prevent McLaren beating it to the constructors’ crown.
Rather watch than listen to the podcast? Click here.
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