Mercedes chief hopeful team's strong China record continues
Tuesday 9 April 2013 15:38, UK
Ross Brawn believes Mercedes are in good shape to emulate their front-running form from Sepang in the Chinese GP thanks to upgrades being brought to the W04 for this weekend's race.
Hamilton and Rosberg have a victory apiece in the last two Chinese GPs, with the latter driver 12 months ago claiming what remains Mercedes' sole victory since returning to F1 team ownership in 2010. Indeed, Rosberg has a particular affinity for the Shanghai circuit since joining Mercedes, having qualified inside the top four on all three previous occasions and led 78 of the last 168 racing laps there. Ruminating as to the reason for the team's unusually strong record, Brawn suspected the fact the layout doesn't place such a strain on a car's rear tyres was a likely explanation. "We always seem to go quite well at China and Nico in particular is very strong there," the Briton added. "It seems to be a track that suits him and it's a track which is front-tyre limited because of the nature of the corners. It's not rear-tyre limited, and possibly over the past few years we've been a bit weak in terms of rear-tyre durability. "I think that's better now."
