Singapore GP: Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn says car upgrades having a positive effect

Brawn said that the package, which was tried out for the first time in last week's young driver test at Magny-Cours, has already proved its worth even though there is still more to come from it.

"Here is our first time using them in anger and it took a little while to sort them out," said Brawn. "We weren't in the best shape on Friday but we changed the setup to use the strengths.

"We do know that when other people have made the transitions to these exhausts, it has taken a couple of races to understand how to use it and to get everything correct.

"But it looks pretty positive."

Brawn admitted that there are further tweaks in the pipeline for the system.

These are expected to be introduced in the coming races as the team continues to optimise its car around the exhaust.

"We have some upgrades to it," said Brawn when asked by AUTOSPORT when he expects the system to be at working at its full potential.

"We will be in better shape in the next race and better shape the race after that as both drivers gain experience in how to use the system and [through] our ability to get the best out of it."

Schumacher and Rosberg qualified ninth and 10 for Sunday's race, and the seven-time world champion was also happy with progress, having admitted before the weekend that the package would take time to optimise.

"We have definitely seen an improvement with the package that we have," he said. "It's a step forward.

"Now, we are learning how to operate and set up the car with all of those characteristic changes."

It is hoped that Mercedes will show a lesser rate of tyre degradation in the race, which is expected to take its toll on the Pirelli rubber.

As neither driver set a time in Q3, both could start on the soft compound in the hope of gaining a strategic advantage by not being locked in to running used supersofts.