Rosberg: Mercedes reliant on F-duct

That is the view of Nico Rosberg, who reckons that after a difficult Brazilian GP - where air density caused by the high altitude hindered the F-duct's effectiveness - his outfit can be a bit more optimistic about its prospects for this weekend.

"For us, one important factor is the F-duct and whether it works or not," said the German. "It is very sensitive to the air pressure, conditions, and with the air being much denser here than Brazil who knows how it will go.

"We want to see what impact it has on our weekend, how well it works and then I think it will be just consolidating our performance from the last two weekends. It is about getting [in the] top six and beating the odd top three guys."

Although Mercedes has enjoyed some more encouraging performances in recent weeks as a result of it working hard on set-up improvements, Rosberg does not think the situation has actually improved much.

"If you look at Brazil free practice we were never close," he said. "I think we managed to stabilise the situation and not drop off."

Reflecting on his first season with Mercedes, Rosberg admitted he is looking forward to the campaign coming to an end.

"I guess because it is not that exciting when you never have a chance to win and I have had enough seasons like that now," he said.