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Brawn: 'Ambitious plans' for car

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn says the team has got "ambitious plans" for the future development of its car.

Having looked very quick towards the end of pre-season testing, Mercedes was initially off the pace of the front runners in the opening two grands prix. It made significant progress in China where Nico Rosberg led for 16 laps, and built on that with by qualifying third in Turkey but was unable to challenge during the race. After the opening of the new Silverstone Wing, Brawn told ESPNF1 winning in Britain could be a realistic target.

"We need to see how the next few races go," Brawn said. "We've got pretty ambitious plans with the car, and with so many different things in the mix this year who knows? It's going to be tough, very very tough, but maybe."

Those plans are put in to action at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend, where Brawn says he hopes Mercedes' updates bring more of an advantage than the upgrades other teams will bring.

"We've got a new aero package for Barcelona, some things we're doing on the suspension so I'm confident we'll move forward. But everyone else is moving forward as well and it's the differentials: Can we reduce the differential between ourselves and the front runners? The last couple of races have been a bit more encouraging, but we haven't quite got everything together yet. But I'm optimistic we're going to move forward in Barcelona."

Brawn also said that Michael Schumacher is still as good as he was when he won five consecutive world championships with Ferrari, and that he would be able to display that once Mercedes provide him with a race-winning car.

"[There's no difference] in his approach, not in his commitment, not in his ability, but obviously the results aren't coming at the moment, but we haven't had the best car. I think that when we can get the car performing at the top level we're going to surprise a few people."

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