Mercedes will continue to develop

Next season is set to be an intriguing season for the Mercedes AMG Formula One Team.

Whilst Team principal Ross Brawn and CEO Nick Fry, have remained in their positions there have been two big changes.

Norbert Haug after 22 years as head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport will leave his position over the next couple of days and of course seven time former Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher has retired for a second time.

Coming into the team is former F1 champion Niki Lauda as non-executive chairman, while 2008 Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton makes the move over from McLaren to replace Schumacher.

The team have been highly ambitious since they bought out the Brawn GP team at the end of the 2009 Formula One season.

That year the team had just won the drivers title with Jenson Button and had taken the constructors championship.

But this seasons Chinese Grand Prix has been the only race victory since Mercedes returned to Formula One and overall the latest project has underachieved.

Not many people envisage much of a change for Mercedes in 2013, despite Hamilton’s move, but Rosberg remains optimistic.

‘The improvement is massive, Unfortunately we haven’t seen it much in the second half of the season, but in the first part of the season we had the fastest car in two races – China and Monaco. Rosberg told Autosport Magazine.

‘That’s the improvement. We’re making progress; we’re getting better.

‘If you would walk through the factory today, you would see a massive improvement compared to three years ago.

‘The amount of competence that has joined us, the way everything is joined together, it’s really making huge steps and that’s why next year I’m sure will be better for us again.’

‘But we learned a lot of lessons this year and that’s why I’m very confident that we’re going to start well next year and then develop through the season.’