Mercedes expect Vettel-Leclerc rivalry to escalate

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff pointed out that Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel's flourishing rivalry at Ferrari could have a positive outcome for the Silver Arrows.

Ferrari have won the last three races, with Leclerc victorious in Belgium and Italy before Vettel jumped his pole-sitting team-mate in Singapore.

Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton's leads in the standings have not come under threat due to their stunning start to the campaign, however, and Wolff did not strike an envious tone when discussing the headache Ferrari counterpart Mattia Binotto now has.

Wolff said: "I think always two alphas competing for position has the potential for a rivalry, and an escalation within the team.

"We've been there and I think today as a team we're very strong with a clear philosophy.

"On the positives, they keep taking points away from each other, which is an advantage, but I don't want to look at points at that stage.

"It's about optimising what we have, winning races and doing the best you can, and we didn't do that [in Singapore]."

Mercedes came home fourth and fifth in Singapore, with Hamilton seeing second place on the grid thrown away by dull strategy calls from the Silver Arrows' pitwall.

"Straight after the race, we started to analyse what went wrong in Singapore and we will use those lessons to learn and improve," Wolff added.

"These difficult days are the ones that make us stronger: this team has shown time and again that it can turn weaknesses into strengths. And we will do so again, here. "However, that shouldn't take anything away from the strength of our opposition, either. The last seven races have shown us that we are in the midst of a fierce battle - and we need to be at our best in every area to claim the top step of the podium."

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