Rosberg expecting to take another step forward in Istanbul

The German is confident that Mercedes GP's upsurge in form will continue at next Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg is confident that Mercedes GP's upsurge in form will continue at next Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix.

The German team had been one of the biggest initial disappointments of the season after promising performances in pre-season testing had given way to two uncompetitive showings in Australia and Malaysia. But Rosberg and Mercedes were on the pace in China, with the German driver leading the race for a lengthy spell before tyre wear saw the 25-year-old fall to fifth, with Michael Schumacher, his teammate, finishing farther down the order in eighth place.

Rosberg is optimistic that the team can build on that display at Istanbul Park this weekend and again challenge at the front end of the field.

"We had a more difficult start to 2011 than we had expected, and the first three races felt a little like a roller-coaster of emotions," he told his team's website. "We were all disappointed in Melbourne and Malaysia but, after leading the race in Shanghai, we have confirmed the potential of our car.

"The team did a very good job to take a step forward and we learnt a lot from the weekend. Hopefully we can now make a further step for Turkey and produce another positive performance."

Ross Brawn, the Mercedes team principal, hopes that seeing Rosberg fighting at the front will drive the team on to continue developing the MGP WO2 chassis.

"The Chinese Grand Prix reminded everyone at the team what it is like to fight for a race," he said. "We didn't succeed on that occasion but ... we can be more competitive and the solutions we are bringing to Turkey will help us achieve this level more consistently."