After the squad claimed both world titles as Brawn GP in 2009, Nico Rosberg racked up three podium finishes in 2010 although neither he nor team-mate Michael Schumacher have been able to reach the rostrum this year.

“A strong result for our team, considering the possibilities that our technical package currently has,” Haug, Mercedes’ Vice President for Motorsport, said of Sunday’s Indian Grand Prix. “It is satisfying for everybody to extract the maximum and to achieve the best possible result. Our lap times looked consistent throughout the race, which shows that we handled the tires well and found a setup which suited the track.”

The German now focuses on Round 18 of 19:

“We now are looking forward to the next Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, the home of our co-owners and partners Aabar, where we hopefully can achieve a similar result. Fifth and sixth paces are not what we are ultimately striving for but it is satisfying to get the best possible results and we can build on that in order to make a good step next year.”

Last year at Yas Marina, Rosberg came home in a respectable fourth position although Schumacher was involved in a scary first-lap crash with Vitantonio Liuzzi.