With the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg taking a win a piece so far this season, the German manufacturer are looking strong for a title challenge.
With all the rules and regulation changes Mercedes entered 2014 as the favourites and nothing from winter testing and the opening two rounds of the championship has suggested otherwise.
Red Bull Racing may well be closer to Mercedes than first thought, but performance wise Mercedes have currently shown they are a class above their rivals.
With that in mind, Mercedes are wary of the possibility of seeing their drivers go head-to-head as they chase the 2014 Formula One World Championship.
Lewis Hamilton would dearly love to add to his 2008 title, boosting his legacy as a two-time F1 champ.
Whilst Nico Rosberg would love to take his maiden title, adding his name alongside the greats of Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel as German F1 world champions.
Hamilton has previously been in a title challenge alongside a team-mate, his rookie season in 2007 saw him go head-to-head with Fernando Alonso at McLaren and their rivalry eventually saw Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari steal the title at the final race of the season.
The fracas eventually saw Alonso leave the team.
Red Bull Racing have most famously seen their drivers fall out, with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber enjoying a feud which ran for a couple of seasons. But as Vettel dominated Webber on the track, that rivalry ended last season with Webber retiring.
Could it happen at Mercedes? Toto Wolff refuses to rule it out, despite the two drivers having been friends since they were kids.
‘The intra-team rivalry is there since the beginning, and it has been there since last January, I think what makes a difference is that these two guys have known each other for such a long time. They have a fair relationship with each other.
‘But that doesn’t mean that they are not extremely competitive, and they will try to use every advantage they can. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told Autosport Magazine.
‘we have spent quite some time in discussing those things, discussing scenarios and situations. It is Mercedes and the team – and the team comes first.
‘But one day it will be rubbish and it will all be academic. We will run into controversy and we will run into a situation that we have to manage. They are still very competitive creatures.’
He concluded: ‘Rosberg won the race in Melbourne, and at the beginning of this weekend it was Nico ahead. Then Lewis came back and during the race it was Lewis. So I would say they are pretty on par.’
Hamilton & Rosberg on par
