Mercedes: Tyre degradation is the main focus

Mercedes vice president of motorsport Norbert Haug says the team has been working on how it can improve its tyre usage since the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Schumacher slides on the grass

The team has been the focus of a lot of interest so far this season as its innovative DRS system gives it qualifying performance that it has been unable to reproduce in the opening two races. At Sepang, Michael Schumacher qualified a close third behind the McLaren pair of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button but could only finish tenth while Nico Rosberg was out of the points.

Haug admitted that the lack of race pace was a concern for Mercedes, but said a number of lessons had since been learnt that he hoped would improve the performance in China next weekend.

"The first two races of the 2012 Formula One season have been ones of unfulfilled promise for our team," Haug said. "Michael's second row qualifying positions were less than half a second from pole in Australia and Malaysia, however at both events we did not convert our qualifying speed into a consistent race performance on Sunday when it counts.

"Since the last race in Malaysia, the team has conducted analysis of our tyre usage during the first two rounds, and how we can improve. The Chinese Grand Prix will provide an answer on our progress, although weather conditions and circuit characteristics will be different to either Melbourne or Malaysia ... Our team has been hard at work since Malaysia, and we hope to be able to translate our learning process into consistent and competitive lap times on race day in China."