Mercedes: Resolving Michael Schumacher's reliability problems is priority

The seven-time champion has scored just two points this season, after seeing promising positions in several races taken away by a range of issues with his car.

Schumacher has suffered gearbox problems (Ausralia), a wheel not being fitted correctly at a pitstop (China), DRS issues, (Bahrain), a fuel pressure failure (Monaco) and a total DRS failure (Canada) so far this campaign.

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn says that there is no obvious explanation as to why Schumacher has suffered so much this season - with team-mate Nico Rosberg being one of the few drivers who has completed every lap so far.

"Both cars are designed and built to exactly the same standards, according to the same processes," Brawn told Bild Zeitung. "Our target is always zero-defect reliability and we are not achieving that at the moment, which is compromising our championship position and our chances in the races. Resolving it is our highest priority."

Brawn has said that the team needs to be quite detailed in understanding what has gone wrong, and ensure that it does not further compound the problem by reacting too swiftly in a bid to solve the issues.

"We have to ensure that we fully understand the reasons for the problems and then deal with them in a clear and systematic way," he said. "Every member of the team is acutely aware of their responsibilities in these areas and the problems we have experienced are not due to a lack of attention or diligence.

"However, whilst we have to improve we must not create new problems by reacting in the wrong way. There is no magic bullet.

"We can get the job done, because Nico has completed every racing lap this year and the team has historically a very good reliability record. We must continue with a controlled logical approach working at our maximum capacity 24/7 to resolve these current issues."

When asked whether Schumacher''s trouble could lead to him electing not to continue with the team in Formula 1 next year, Brawn said: "In my experience with Michael, difficult times lead him to give even more to the team to pull through. And we will give our utmost to build a perfect, totally reliable car for Michael."