• Bahrain Grand Prix

'I have a great car' - Rosberg

Nico Rosberg: "I come here with a good car and with the belief that I can really make it happen this weekend" © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Bahrain Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Nico Rosberg

• Teams:
• Mercedes

Nico Rosberg says recent retirements do not frustrate him because he is always looking forward to the next race due to the "great car" at his disposal.

Having retired from the season-opening race in Australia, Rosberg also retired last weekend in China with a rear anti-roll bar failure. Lewis Hamilton scored points in both races from which Rosberg retired, with the Chinese Grand Prix delivering his second consecutive podium and leaving him just 12 points off the championship lead. However, Rosberg - whose 12 points came as a result of fourth place behind his team-mate in Malaysia - says the retirements are negated by the potential the 2013 Mercedes has.

"It's been disappointing not to finish of course, but I'm really looking forward because I come here with a good car and with the belief that I can really make it happen this weekend," Rosberg said. "That's a really nice feeling that I don't remember so much from last year because towards the middle of the season that was gone and we were just nowhere anymore. I'm going with that at the moment; looking forward to what's to come because I have a great car."

Rosberg said the main cause for his optimism is knowing where the team struggled in 2012 and being able to address those issues.

"I'm hoping that our biggest weakness last year was firstly tyre overheating - which was a big issue here but I'm quite confident that we're much improved on that so we should be in a much better position - and secondly development. So I'm really focusing together with the engineers and trying to help out as much as I can to make sure that we're on top of our game and keeping up with the best in terms of development rate because that's really crucial and that was our big weakness last year. That's important now, so we'll take it as it comes, but I'm very enthusiastic and motivated to get started. With all due respect from speaking to all of you I can't wait to finally drive the car and go round the track."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.