Mercedes began the 2015 season in ominous fashion, as their new F1W06 Hybrid set the early pace and racked up an astonishing 157 trouble-free laps on the opening day in Jerez.
In an exclusive interview, the Silver Arrows' head of motorsport Toto Wolff explains why the team hasn't let up over the winter, and also discusses which rival teams he fears, why the team is braced for more driver tensions, and the latest on a potential new deal with Lewis Hamilton...
Q: Toto, after Mercedes' record-breaking success last year, how are you going to maintain your momentum? Are you hungrier than ever?
Toto Wolff: If you want to be successful in Formula One staying hungry is what you have to have in your genes. Staying hungry is a state of mind. The team will keep the momentum, because we are as hungry as we were last year or two years ago. There is no complacency! There is no change in attitude within the team.
Q: Mercedes won everything last season: the constructors' title, the drivers title - and as an add-on, also second place in the drivers' championship. Isn't there a moment when everybody simply wants to exhale?
TW: If you lose motivation after the first championship, then something would be wrong. We have achieved step number one on our agenda. True, we had an extraordinary season: 16 wins out of 19 races. We've been breaking records. This is not something that we can automatically expect for this year, or any other season, because it was exceptional. Nevertheless we will try. For the moment everything has been set back to zero so we start out like all the other teams and now it is all about doing the best possible job over the next ten months in order to come out victorious again at the end of the season.

Q: There is a suggestion that Mercedes can again only beat themselves. Is that so? Do you see any challenges on the horizon?
TW: There are lots of challenges on the horizon. First and foremost, we have to do our own job right. We have to have a fast car, but also a reliable one. We have to execute races in the right way - and get faultless in that execution. Believe me, there are lots of areas where we want to improve. I say that without diminishing what we achieved last year. Actually we are eager to improve. These are the first days of the first test - so we've just started

More...