Mercedes have faith in new car

Only Bruno Spengler was able to get the car to the front of the field at Hockenheim during the weekend, and Jamie Green believes that the Canadian's pace proved what the new car is capable of.

"It's not fair to say the car is poor, because Bruno qualified on pole and could have won the race," Green told autosport.com.

"Clearly the car is capable of being at the front, and we've just not got the most out of it yet."

Norbert Haug was also satisfied with the pace of the car, and he believes that all four of the HWA team's drivers showed good pace in the race.

"We were in the lead for a long time, victory was in our reach," he said. "We just weren't good enough."

Haug added that the other new cars had been capable of lapping quickly, but they lost out in traffic during the race.

"You have to look at the fastest laps," he said. "Bernd Schneider belonged at the front on his lap times. He was quick, but he was hampered by traffic.

"Mika Hakkinen was very close to Bruno's laptimes, a few tenths is nothing. We were wrong with the strategy this weekend."

Spengler was the only driver who seemed happy with the car during the weekend, and he had no explanation for why he had been further up the grid than his teammates.

"I don't know why I am faster, and I don't really care," he told autosport.com. "I'm fast so I am happy.

"The new car is definitely better in the faster corners, and it's good to have the speed from the start of the season."