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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has vowed that the Silver Arrows will "go for broke" this weekend at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Last time out in Brazil, the German manufacturer sealed its fifth consecutive constructor's championship, two weeks on from Hamilton's driver title success.
Mercedes' celebrations came after Hamilton took the victory at Interlagos, despite having a pace disadvantage to Max Verstappen, whose race was hampered by Esteban Ocon. Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas came home in fifth, which was enough to confirm the championship.
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Mercedes is undefeated at the Yas Marina Circuit in the turbo hybrid era, and although the championship pressure is now off, Wolff says that the team will still be as hungry as ever to bring home the maximum points.
“The celebrations in Brixworth and Brackley last week were a very humbling experience," he said. "Claiming the fifth consecutive double Championship – an experience that only very few people in the sport have had before – felt amazing and we all cherished that moment.
“At the same time, everyone is extremely keen to continue to raise the bar together and be even stronger in 2019. For now, we have one race to go in 2018 and we want to put on a great show for the fans who supported us through the season, be it at the track, in front of their TV or on social media. The championship pressure is off, so we can look at this as one race where we can really go for broke.”
However, Wolff is not expecting it to be an easy weekend for the world champions: “We know, too, that it will be a tough battle because both Red Bull and Ferrari will have the same target of taking good momentum into the winter," added the Austrian.
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Replies (2)
Login to replyRogerF1
Posts: 501
So they weren’t really trying for the last 20 races? I’d sort of guessed that, couldn’t let it look too easy.
sadosalo
Posts: 198
are you kidding they go racing? this time no following each other in procession to the finish, LOL. The Mercedes domination kills F1 for the spectators, 10 times from pole, Bottas blocking the rest of the field for Lewis and here we go again, WC finished 3 races before the end nicely done and safe. Oh the Ferrari's are faster yeah, please.