Mercedes still having to improve

Mercedes will be willing to improve its results in the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix, taking place on Sunday 18 April at the Shanghai International Circuit. Team-boss Ross Brawn admits that the German team still hasn’t got the pace to catch the fastest teams but he admits that progresses have already been made.

Although Nico Rosberg handled Mercedes the first podium finish of the season in Malaysia, the team engineers are continuing to work on the car in order to be able to catch the frontrunner teams.

In China Brawn will be expecting a trouble-free race for Schumacher so that he can show his true capabilities on the track.

“We hope to continue these signs of improvement in China and it would be particularly good for Michael to be able to have a clean race and show the progress that he has made since the start of the season”, said Brawn on a team preview.

“Our car has been reliable, with the exception of the wheel nut problem in Malaysia, and I am very pleased with the performance of our drivers. We’ve achieved a reasonable set of results which are in line with the car’s current pace but we have to be realistic and acknowledge that we are not quick enough to compete right at the front at the moment”, he added.

As for returning champion Michael Schumacher, after failing to score in Malaysia he says he is aware of what went wrong in the last races and that he will be wiling to improve his performance in China.

Schumacher said, “We looked quite reasonable in Malaysia at the last race and maybe things will play into our hands again in Shanghai. I am looking forward to the race and fully enjoying the competition again. Admittedly the last two races have not been very fortunate for me but I am very much aware of the reasons for it. I know how things go in F1 and if you look into the detail of the two races, I think everything is still going according to plan. You can only improve step-by-step and I am confident that we are achieving this.”