Rosberg bemoans missed opportunity

Nico Rosberg was disappointed after missing the chance to finish on the podium in the Chinese Grand Prix

The Mercedes driver led the event for a handful of laps and looked in contention for a spot in the top three before he was hit by fuel consumption issues.

The problem meant the German was unable to push as much as he wanted, dropping down to fifth position.

Rosberg, however, was still upbeat about the step forward taken by Mercedes and says the team will learn from the lessons of today.

"Naturally I'm disappointed with the race today as we know that we didn't make the most of our opportunity out there," said Rosberg. "We've made a big step with the car this weekend which is really nice to see and we will have better races in future.

"Leading the race for such a long time was a great feeling but we had issues with the fuel consumption which made it really difficult to fight for position.

"We could have had a podium finish or maybe more today, but we will learn from this together as a team and make sure that we get the results next time."

The team completed its first double points finish of the season after Michael Schumacher was eighth in the race.

Schumacher was also positive about his team's progress ahead of the start of the European season.

"That was a lot of racing in one grand prix this afternoon and very exciting," he said. "I had a lot of fun this afternoon and I'm so pleased to see the hard work of our guys paid off this weekend.

"We have made a big step forward with our car and it worked very well. We are heading towards the first race in Europe now and will bring some upgrades to Istanbul which should help us to improve even more. It is good to leave Asia with a positive feeling."