Lewis Hamilton warned to be ‘careful’ by Mercedes after Canadian GP podium finish

“So I think we need to be careful. “We were off the pace on Friday. In the wet we were good yesterday, I think that was respectable. And I think that today at times we were with the quickest cars. In the second stint, Lewis and George were almost matching the front runners. They were not quite but on some laps, yes, and that is very encouraging to see.

“But we just need to be careful, there’s so much work we need to do in order to be back at the front, and we are not yet there.”

Mercedes equalled their best result of the season in Montreal with third and fourth but did benefit from issues for other drivers. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was out of position for the whole race after being issued a grid penalty for changing engine components.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez also started lower down after a crash in qualifying but was denied a chance to close up on the Mercedes after suffering a mechanical failure on Sunday. However, Wolff still feels Hamilton deserved his podium yesterday and claimed the team were still not “gifted” the result.

He explained: “There were a lot of races that worked against him where he could have scored a podium or a much better result and it was not his wrongdoing but similarly bad luck. Seeing him now on the positive side and being on the podium without anything in a way gifted that’s good to see.”

George Russell revealed the team were “concerned” Leclerc and Perez would be able to challenge for a podium.

However, he said the Mercedes’ race pace was “closer” to the leaders than at many other tracks this season. He added: “We were certainly concerned Leclerc and Checo would be able to come through and be fortunate to keep them behind us.

“Ultimately, our race-pace was closer to Ferrari and Red Bull than we’ve seen all season, but the inherent performance isn’t there yet. Nevertheless, P4, it’s good points for the team and great to be back on the podium for the team.”