Mercedes belꦏieves Formula 1’s three-way battle for supremacy in 2018 between the Silver Arrows, Ferrari and Red Bull will “intensify” at 🍸the Spanish Grand Prix.

Mercedes has been the dominant force in F1 throughout the V6 hybrid era but faces its biggest challenge to date this season t🌠hanks to a renewed threat from chief rivals Ferrari, with the Scuderia picking up two wins from the opening four rounds of the campaꦉign. 

Red🙈 Bull also made improvements over the winter and claimed a victory before the German manufacturer this year, as the reigning world champions went three races without a win for the first time under F1’s current regulation cycle. 

But a surprise win for Lewis Hamilton during a chaotic race in Baku last time out saw the Briton move four points clear of Sebastian Vettel in the dri𝄹vers’ standings heading into this weekend’s race in Barcelona. 

“The first four races indicate very strongly that we will see the three-way battle continue and ifꦫ anything - intensify,” team boss Toto Wolff said. 

"We're hoping that this year's Spanish Grand Prix willꦛ be a good race for us, but we know that it will be tough.”

On top of its continued tyre struggles, Mercedes appears to have fallen behind Ferrari in terms of straight-line speed and one-lap pace, an area it previously held a significant advantage over the rest of the f🐈ield. 

Spain has traditionally acted as the start of the European leg of the F1 calendar and provides teams wiཧth a chance to introduce major revisions to their cars during the season, leaving Wolff fascinated to see how updates might influence the pecking orde🔥r. 

“The European season is also the time when teams start introducing bigger upgrades to their cars. It's the first ste🔜p of the development race that looks like it c💛ould run to the very end of the season. 

“It will be interesting to see how much performance the teams can find with their upgrades and what impact those🍃 upgrades will have on the team ranking - both at the front and in the midfield.”