Ferrari favourite to win F1 championship: Mercedes boss Toto Wolff

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Bengaluru, June 7: Team Ferrari are favourites to win this year's Formula 1 world title, according to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.

The Last year's winners will travel to this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix after a dreadful performance in last month's Monaco GP where Valtteri Bottas finished fourth and three-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton managed only seventh spot finish.

The reigning world champion team trails rival Ferrari by 17 points in the constructors' championship, having won only three out of six.

Hamilton has won two Grands Prix, in China and Spain, and his new team-mate Valtteri Bottas one in Russia. Whereas, last year at this point, they were 67 points ahead of Ferrari and had won 5 out of six.

Mercedes have the fastest cars in the race, however, it has emerged that the Ferrari's engines are sustaining in a wider range of conditions with more flexibility and has generally appeared to have an advantage in races.

Regarding the situation, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told that it is painful to see his team deteriorate and suggested his team is no longer the favourite to win this season.

Wolff said: "It's painful but we are not the favourites for this year's championship. At the moment, it's Ferrari. We need to rise to the challenge to prove we are the team to beat. This is the reality of the situation now.

"We have to fight with all that we are worth for every single win, pole position, a podium finish and every point. You can no longer expect that when you look at a timesheet the two Mercedes will be right at the top."

Mercedes' major problems this season revolve around in making the Pirelli tires to run consistently in their correct operating temperature window.

Wolff proposed his team are working on it to solve the problem and they will adjust it according to track.

"We've come into this season with a strong car that has allowed us to win three of the first six races. But it has also caused us more complications than we have seen in previous years.

"Everybody at the factories is working absolutely flat out to assess the current difficulties we are facing - to define our objectives, work with the data we have and then come up with the right solutions.

"I remember the troubles we had in Singapore in 2015, which hurt badly. We gave ourselves a deadline to address that setback before switching our focus to the next race in Suzuka, which we won."

Mercedes will next compete in Canadian Grand Prix in the upcoming weekend where his racer Hamilton won five times in nine appearances.

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