Also at Mercedes they expect a battle with Red Bull: "It's going to be very close"

After months of waiting we are only a few days away from the opening of season in Austria. Because of the corona pandemic the weekend will be very different than the teams are used to so far, again Wolff "It will be getting used to, no media or other appointments. Only the laps count and the performance of the drivers. We'll live in a bubble but still I'll try to get the mechanics and employees on the bike so they can ride a lap on the track for example". Just to leave the bubble for a moment.

Verstappen competitor

It will take some getting used to for all teams now that they will be driving their rounds with all updates on the car for the first time. The proportions in the field were never clear until the first weeks of July. What many followers assume is that Red Bull will be the biggest competitor of world champion Mercedes. The Austrian race stable won the last two years with Verstappen on the Red Bull Ring.

Wolff also expects the Dutchman to be in danger: "Red Bull with Max Verstappen will be there in Spielberg and I expect it to be very close between Red Bull and us". In recent years the German team had problems with the cooling of the engine in Austria. It's not surprising that Wolff is hoping for less sun than last year. "Please, no 35 degrees. The heat and the altitude of the circuit were not to our advantage but hopefully we have learned from the previous years and have better control of the situation", Wolff said in conversation with Kronen Zeitung.

For the time being Wolff doesn't have to worry about a very hot weekend. The predictions are still below 25 degrees, although that can change quickly around a mountainous area.