Despite their win at the Chinese Grand Prix last year, Mercedes head Toto Wolff is playing down its chances of retaining the title as the season starts. Last year was the first win of the team since it returned to Formula 1 racing behind the commanding victory of Nico Rosberg in Shanghai.

Although the team is supposedly second only to Red Bull according to Lewis Hamilton, Wolf is trying to be more realistic about the team’s chances this year. He indicated that questions were asked if they will be able to repeat its 2013 win, but what happened last year may not increase its chances this year on the track.

He added that they are starting from scratch this year and they have to work on making the car suitable for the circuit. However, they were able to start well in the initial races this year behind the performance of Nico and Lewis. The team also aims to work on this good start in the season and continue to score good points for the championship.

Even though he had an impressive performance with Mercedes in the race in Malaysia, Lewis acknowledged that this year may have a different result from last year. He said that Mercedes did everything right last year, but the situation this year is different.

However, if the car performs well and the result of the team is similar to last year, it would be amazing, Lewis added.