Mercedes is 'always wary' to pounce upon Ferrari's issues and score points in 2022 F1 season

Ferrari started off the 2022 F1 season on a strong note with a 1-2 in the very first race of the calendar. The Italian squad, however, is now slowly slipping away from the lead as a result of serious reliability issues over the last few races. In light of that, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff claimed his team is 'always wary' of making the most of any opportunity that opens up through Ferrari's struggles.

As reported by PlanetF1, the Austrian said:

“When your car is not super-competitive with the front guys, [it is about] maximising those points. It is important to consolidate and make sure you are no worse than third. But equally, you see the situation at Ferrari. If they drop the ball often then we are there. You always need to be on your toes with reliability because you need to score points and not only be fast. I feel for the Ferrari guys because they have a super-powerful engine and a good car, but in the end losing so many points makes you lose the championship. You need to be always wary, and we are because the car could still stop at any time.”

Earlier, a double DNF for the Maranello-based squad at the 2022 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix allowed George Russell to secure his third podium of the season for Mercedes.

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Ferrari is "paying the price" for prioritizing performance over reliability

Ferrari had hoped for a comeback season this year with its F1-75 and did seem to achieve the goal in the first couple of races. So far this season, however, it has become woefully apparent that reliability issues are likely to be the Scuderia's downfall, despite the car's performance putting it in a different league.

As reported by PlanetF1, team principal Mattia Binotto revealed that he does not blame the technicians for the lack of reliability, saying:

“Reliability is a construction site. You don’t win races without it. I don’t want to blame our technicians. They did an excellent job with the drivetrain if you look back at where we came from. What we did last year with the hybrid system and in the winter made huge leaps in performance with the engine and it looks like we are paying the price now. For us, it’s not primarily about bringing a new drive unit. We also have to be clear about how we will deal with it in the short term. Should we shorten the service life of the parts or change the application parameters?”

Although the Prancing Horse has led the constructors' standings for a while this season, the team now stands closer to Mercedes than it does to Red Bull.