Mercedes must continue to develop the W05 if they want to be sure of winning races until the end of the season according to Niki Lauda, who believes the pace Williams showed in Austria should be cause for concern.
The three-time champion and non-executive chairman of the Mercedes team insists, despite a 158-point lead to second placed Red Bull, they won’t simply give up thinking they’ve done enough to focus on next year.
“The alarm bells are ringing that the competition is coming closer,” said Lauda. “If the alarm bell rings in time then you can do something. If you sit back – which we don’t try to do – you miss out. So what we are going to do is keep on developing the car.”
The Austrian is hoping Williams’s challenge, in which they took a 1-2 in qualifying and a 3-4 in the race, was a one off and normal service will resume at Silverstone between his duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
“It is [a big gap between them], no question, because the Montreal race was a disaster for [Hamilton]. But he will keep on fighting, don’t worry. He will be more motivated now going to Silverstone after this result and the points difference. So I really look forward to a good Silverstone race between the two.
“I hope that nobody else comes in between [them]. This we have to avoid and keep pushing the team.”
