Under pressure Mercedes targets 75th pole in China for 150th start as F1 constructor

The Mercedes Formula 1 team is under some pressure from Ferrari, but has the added motivation to succeed in China this weekend; it can reach a notable milestone of 75 pole positions in the German manufacturer’s 150th start as a constructor in the championship, a truly astonishing statistic that underlines how the Silver Arrows have dominated during two brief periods in the sport.

The adventure began in the 1950s and was picked up again in the 2010s - Juan Manuel Fangio and Sir Stirling Moss scored eight F1 poles for Mercedes during its first stint in the series in 1954 and 1955, while Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton chalked up 66 more since the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix. Incidentally, the last non-Mercedes driver to start from pole in Shanghai was Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull back in 2011.

Mercedes has won 64 F1 races in its first 149 starts – nine from Fangio and Moss, and 55 coming courtesy of Rosberg and Hamilton. Since the start of 2014 it has been the dominant team in F1 thanks to the superiority of its V6 turbo engine, and the Brackley-based team has won the drivers’ and constructors’ championships for the last three seasons.

But as F1 heads to Shanghai for the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix, Mercedes does not head either the drivers’ or teams’ standings thanks to Vettel’s victory for Ferrari in the Australian Grand Prix last time out.

Mercedes has faced criticism for its decision making around Lewis Hamilton’s o pitstop for fresh tyres earlier than his rival, which handed Ferrari track position.

Hamilton called for the stop a due to tyre concerns nd Mercedes agreed on the assumption that Max Verstappen would soon pit to undercut Kimi Raikkonen and clear the road, but it didn't happen.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff punched the desk in frustration and has since outlined his belief that losing to Vettel and Ferrari in Australia would help his team make better choices in the future.

Speaking ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, he said: "Australia was the first weekend for the new technical regulations, with a new car, new tyres and a new driver. We collected lots more information that will be flowing into all future thinking and will help us make better decisions.

"As a group and as individuals, we are all on a personal development slope in this team. We try to improve every single day. On that particular day in Melbourne, Ferrari were better, so we now have to work out how we can improve again to beat them.”

Wolff also explained that in the time that has passed since the opening round of the 2017 season, Mercedes had been focused on learning from its own performance in Melbourne rather than looking to other teams for inspiration.

He said: "The last three years were an outlier in Formula 1 and you need to be careful to manage your own expectations. If you think you are going to cruise to victory in the future, based on a track record of success, you'll be proven wrong very quickly. You need to put the finger in the wound, identify your weaknesses and then respond.

"We achieved a double podium in the first race of a brand new set of regulations - a strong result by any standard. But that doesn't mean we can be satisfied because there are still many areas where we can be better. We have been focused on these during the past week.

“It's not a case of looking at the competition for inspiration but of getting our own homework done to maximise our performance.”