Rosberg warns against over-optimism

The German driver and his team enjoyed a strong weekend in Melbourne, qualifying in seventh place and going on to finish in third, in what was Rosberg's first podium finish in Formula One.

The result was no big surprise, however, following Williams's impressive form during winter testing.

But Rosberg reckons the team should be cautious despite their strong start, as he believes Williams are still behind Ferrari, McLaren and BMW.

"The bottom line is we need to be cautious," Rosberg told reporters in Sepang. "We can't get over-confident just because we got a podium because the fact is we are still the fourth best team behind McLaren, Ferrari and BMW so the best place we can finish realistically is seventh.

"That's our reality, as bad as it sounds. So we need to be careful and not be disappointed all of a sudden if we're suddenly running in seventh - and we also need to be careful because the teams behind us are very close - Renault, Toyota, Red Bull. So it's not an easy situation.

"But it was a great start and in Melbourne, performance-wise we were consistently good - even though we had huge problems on the Friday. It's really a positive start and it gives us a reason to all the suffering and long hours we suffered over the winter."

Despite his caution, Rosberg is adamant there is more to come from Williams, after they had a troubled Friday in Australia, with very limited running slowing down their progress.

"The car just arrived on the plane and went straight into qualifying. We didn't try anything so of course there's more to come," he said.

"It was spot on. It's down to the engineers doing a good job with the settings and just me getting the right reaction time. You have to control the clutch release, throttle position etc. It's different.

"And at the start of the race, there's so much that you need to be thinking about at the start. With the pressure and everything you really need to be focused and keep a clear head - and then you can manage a good start. The car is quite good at starts - it wasn't by chance."

Rosberg admitted their positive start to the season has been very good for the team's morale.

"It was very nice. A big boost for everybody," he added.