Toto Wolff is keen for Mercedes to avoid complacency after a "surprise" at the Singapore Grand Prix saw Lewis Hamilton win and Valtteri Bottas come third.
The Marina Bay street circuit was expected to favour Ferrari and Red Bull, but a collision heading towards the first turn ended the races of Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen.
Hamilton got a better start than Daniel Ricciardo – who ended up finishing second – to lead for the remainder of the race, opening up a 28-point lead in the drivers' standings.
With Mercedes achieving a vastly superior result to what they were expecting, Wolff does not want to overestimate what they will be capable of at the Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend.
"The result in Singapore came as a surprise for us all - and the danger of a result like that is to misjudge your own level of performance," said Wolff.
"But within the team, our focus since finishing first and third has been on the painful moments of the Singapore weekend - why we struggled in the long runs on Friday and our lack of performance over one lap in qualifying - to learn as much as possible for the rest of the season.
"We have deepened our understanding of those problems and we will take that learning with us into the final races.
"The last race was a strong reminder that sport always has the power to surprise and defy all predictions. We have been on the receiving end of those bad moments before, and we know that they can happen as easily to us as anybody else.
"The result in Singapore doesn't change anything in terms of how we approach the final six races, beginning this weekend in Malaysia. We will need to be at the top of our game on every track if we want to maintain our lead in both championships to the end of the season."
