Mercedes not sure when to switch focus to ’14

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg says the team face a huge dilemma concerning the development of its current car and next years – with the latter undergoing a radical regulation change.

Whilst some outfits have already switched focus, such as McLaren, Rosberg says Mercedes are in a difficult position compared to its rivals.

Whilst they arguably have the quickest car, the deficit to leader Sebastian Vettel stands at 48 points for Lewis Hamilton and 88 for Rosberg.

Therefore the German is torn between continuing their current fight for the title and switching resources to 2014 which he describes as a potentially “massive opportunity” for Mercedes.

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“We have been able to celebrate some huge successes,” he told Auto Motor und Sport. “Unfortunately, especially due to the tyres, we were not consistent enough [in the early races].

“The progress we have made, however, is huge. But our goal is to be where Sebastian is.”

The gap to Vettel has closed in the past few races for Rosberg’s team-mate Hamilton, who not only took pole and the win the last time out, he has also scored the more points than anyone in the past three races.

Therefore the decision to focus on 2014 is a hard choice for the Mercedes management, with Ross Brawn recently admitting it wouldn’t happen for at least another two races.

Rosberg remains undecided, adding: “I’m in two minds. On the one hand, I find it so cool to come to a race weekend with the best car, thinking ‘I can put it on pole and win’. It’s a great feeling.

“On the other hand, half of me thinks that next year is such a huge opportunity, because of all the changes. If we just keep driving what we have now, we can still get some good successes out of this car.”