Mercedes technical chief James Allison believes the steps taken to master the team's erratic W08 this season will help deliver a much stronger overall package for 2018.
Mercedes is on the cusp of securing both world championships for a fourth consecutive season, although that belies the fact this has been its most difficult campaign since the start of the V6 turbo era the team has dominated. A resurgent Ferrari has taken the fight to Mercedes all season, with the world champions struggling at various points with a car team boss Toto Wolff has frequently labelled a "diva".
Despite capitalising on Ferrari's season-destroying run of misfortune at the last three races, Mercedes was far from comfortable in Singapore and Malaysia, circuits which exposed some of the W08's glaring weaknesses.