Mercedes pair Michael Schumacher and
Nico Rosberg say they are chasing more race pace from the new W03 when the F1 season continues next weekend in China.
The pair have shown strong one lap pace in qualifying for the opening two races of the season in Australia and Malaysia, but Schumacher's tenth place finish at Sepang is the only time either driver has scored points so far – leaving Mercedes bottom of the established teams.
Team boss Ross Brawn admits the team has 'missed the mark' so far in 2012 [See separate story
HERE and Schumacher said Mercedes had worked hard to try and resolve its issues ahead of the Shanghai race.
“I've never had much luck in Shanghai, apart from my win in 2006,” he said. “However that could change this year. In the first two races of 2012, we didn't manage to maintain our qualifying pace in race conditions. We've been working intensively on this, so that we can offer our fans a strong performance in China."
Rosberg has run strongly in China for the past two seasons, and he too said he was chasing more race performance from the car in the third race of the year.
"For me, China is really the start of the season as the first two races have not gone to plan,” he said. “The track is quite different to the first two, as it demands more from the front tyres than the rears - in other words, what is termed a front-limited circuit. We know that we have a quick car, but we are looking to improve our long run pace in China next weekend and to have a better race performance."