Mercedes yet to show 'real' pace in 2018, says Wolff

Toto Wolff has warned the rest of Formula One that Mercedes is yet to fully unleash star drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas at the same time.

Defending champion Hamilton leads the drivers' championship, with Bottas in third, while Mercedes is out in front in the constructors' standings, having recorded a one-two in Russia last week.

But even after a dominant showing from Hamilton in practice at the Japanese Grand Prix, team boss Wolff claimed there is still much more to come from the Silver Arrows.

Read: Hamilton enjoys 'best day' as Mercedes star dominates practice

"We have never seen the real performance," he said. "When Valtteri was in the lead [last week and let Hamilton through], he was trying to manage the tyres and wasn't aware that [Sebastian] Vettel was all over Lewis in the back. When we managed to get Lewis in front, he had a blister, so we didn't go flat out either. There was a little bit of pace in hand."

Wolff is not getting carried away as he acknowledged even Hamilton's 50-point advantage is not enough to declare the title race over ahead of this weekend in Japan.

"In 2007, Lewis had an equivalent of 45 points advantage with two races to go and lost by one point," he said. "We are far from having it in the bag."