Mercedes wary of Red Bull in Hungary

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff believes the Hungaroring will suit rivals Red Bull better and has warned his team much be flawless if they are win the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Mercedes have won five races on the bounce to take a commanding 131-point lead in the constructors' championship, but they could find their dominance tested this weekend given their recent results in Hungary.

The team are without a win at the Hungaroring since the V6 turbo engines were introduced in 2014 and Wolff believes the track will suit their rivals much better.

"We face a very different challenge in Budapest. This circuit has not been kind to us over the past two years and it plays to the strengths of our rivals," Wolff said.

"The Red Bull, for example, is a car that functions well where high drag isn't penalised as much as at other types of circuit. So, in wet conditions and at low-speed circuits such as the Hungaroring, they are a major threat.

"We will need to be flawless to come out on top at this track."

Sunday's race marks the halfway point in the 2016 calendar and teams must decide whether to stop development work on their current cars and focus on their 2017 cars and Wolff admits finding the balance can be difficult.

"We are also now entering a time where things are complicated even more by some big decisions to be made," Wolff explained. "Every week we much analyse how much resource we move across to the 2017 project - but that's a tricky balance.

"Some teams have stopped 2016 development very early - as early as February maybe, once the current cars hit the circuit. That does give them an advantage, as the learning curve is very steep at the beginning.

"If you are a few weeks behind you can find yourselves much further back in the end. We may be halfway through the battle for this year, but the hard work is only just beginning."