Nico Rosberg confident Mercedes' degradation issues can be solved quickly

The Brackley-based team had looked a serious threat for a podium finish in Melbourne - especially with Michael Schumacher and Rosberg running in third and fourth places after the first corner of the race.

But its race turned to disappointment, as Schumacher retired with a gearbox problem and Rosberg slipped down the order with tyre degradation - before a late collision with Sergio Perez gave him a puncture.

Although its situation would point to some trepidation ahead of this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, where the track characteristics and high temperatures will make tyre management crucial, Rosberg is upbeat that the team can put in place changes to make its situation better.

"You can do a lot," explained the German. "It is early days and there are so many new things on the car. With a good analysis of the car and what's going on, and also set-up wise, you can improve things.

"[Sepang] is also a different track and different circumstances, so it can all look very different."

Rosberg believes that a poor balance to his car was the main contributor to his struggles in the race.

"There was a lot going on [in the race], and unfortunately car wise we were not where we wanted to be," he said.

"We were not quite good enough I think with the balance, and we were wearing the tyres a little bit more than other people. So, we need to look into that and learn what we can do. I'm sure we'll bounce back next weekend.

"My start was great so thanks to my engineer, who did a fantastic job moving me up from seventh to fourth. That was nice but from then on it was a bit more difficult. As Ross [Brawn, team principal] would say: 'onwards and upwards' to the next race."