Nico Rosberg is fired up by Mercedes progress with new F1 car

Nico Rosberg says he is fired up by the progress he has seen at Mercedes - even though he concedes the team is not in race-winning shape yet.

Although the W03 has proved to be a step forward over last year's challenger, Rosberg backs the view of team principal Ross Brawn that the outfit needs to find another step before it can be ready to take victory.

However, rather than be downbeat because he may have to wait a bit longer to think about winning races, Rosberg says the fact the team is moving forward is enough to keep him happy.

"We want to win, so we are definitely not there yet, but we are making progress and that is good to see," he said after testing finished in Barcelona.
"The team is in the right direction, and the car build, the work they have done at the factory over the winter is so much better than previous years. It is clean, the car build is performing as expected and all these things [are good], so we are looking at big things as a team."

He added: "It is not frustrating; it is a great motivation to be part of this push that is happening at this team.

"The progress is evident so that is really nice to see and everyone is motivated as a result. You see that progress and that is extra motivation, because you think okay, things are happening, now things are moving forward and we can get there."

Autosport