Toto Wolff maintains Lewis Hamilton and George Russell goal but admits Ferrari fear | F1 | Sports

Toto Wolff has admitted Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s goal is still to win a race before the end of the season after coming close in the United States and Mexican Grand Prix. The Mercedes team principal has also confirmed their drivers have been told to target second in the constructors’ championship as they close the gap to Ferrari.

Hamilton has beaten Charles Leclerc in the last two races while Russell has also beaten the struggling Carlos Sainz in four of the last five races. It has allowed the German manufacturer to close to within just 40 points of the Prancing Horse with two races remaining.

However, Wolff has refused to get carried away after Ferrari spent much of the season challenging for the title. Wolff explained: “Our performance gap to Red Bull today was small, and we had a good margin to Ferrari – however, we need to be careful about jumping to quick conclusions about the latter and wait to see what happens in Brazil.

“Our goals are still to win a race and fight for second in the constructors’ championship. We want to demonstrate that our car is fast and the whole team put just so much work into upgrading the car, it would be fantastic for them if we can make it happen for one of the last two remaining races this year.”

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However, despite coming close, Hamilton has struggled to topple Verstappen who secured his 14th win of the season in Mexico last weekend. Andrew Shovlin, trackside engineering director, also reiterated Wolff’s hope of securing second in the teams’ standings.

He added: “On a positive note, we have closed the gap to Ferrari, and we’ll keep chasing them until the flag drops in Abu Dhabi. So, we have two races to go, a few days to regroup before the sprint race in Brazil, and still plenty to work for.”