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Mercedes 'determination' pleases Brawn

Ross Brawn: "I am pleased with the continued work ethic of the team and the determination to achieve our goal of second place in the championship" © Getty Images

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Ross Brawn says he has been impressed by the "determination" shown by Mercedes following a poor Japanese Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg finished eighth at Suzuka, and with Lewis Hamilton retiring early in the race it ensured Mercedes scored only four points. As a result, Ferrari extended its advantage in the constructors' championship to 10 points, while Lotus took 21 points out of the gap third-placed Mercedes holds over it.

After such a poor weekend, Brawn said he was encouraged by the response shown by the team with both drivers also working hard at the factory.

"There has been a great deal of analysis and hard work taking place at Brackley and Brixworth since we returned from Japan and I am pleased with the continued work ethic of the team and the determination to achieve our goal of second place in the championship," Brawn said. "Both Nico and Lewis have been in the factory this week to assist with our preparations for the next two races and we are all looking forward to the challenge of securing strong finishes for both drivers."

Hamilton himself said the focus has to be on extracting the maximum performance from the car over a race weekend.

"We're hoping for a strong weekend after a couple of difficult races and I know that everyone has been working really hard to make sure that we can get all of the performance possible from the car over the last four races," he said. "We know that we have a good car and, if we can put together a good race weekend, then we have the potential for some great results before the season is over."

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