Nico Rosberg does not think his Mercedes team are capable of achieving a podium finish in this Sunday’s European Grand Prix.
Despite a relatively strong performance last time out in Canada, the German cannot see how the Brackley team will be able to beat the Red Bull, McLaren or Ferrari cars on pace alone.
“We should not over-estimate the performance in Montreal,” he said. “In qualifying we were sixth and eighth, and that is the level of performance we have at the moment.
“With a good race we can do a little bit better than that, but it is not realistic to think that on pure performance we are able to go on the podium at the moment.”
He reiterated a line that main players in the team have trotted out often this season, which is broadly that success will come at some point for the Anglo-German squad.
“I also spoke to Ross and the feeling was positive, for sure. It is still as always that this team will have success. It is just a matter of time, although it is hard to say when. Obviously we are not where we want to be.”
