From GMM
Nico Rosberg is confident of a more successful season for Mercedes in 2011, but more than 70 per cent of those surveyed by the major German news agency SID do not believe Michael Schumacher will win an eighth world title in 2011.
The 25-year-old German Rosberg, who this year finished 70 points ahead of his famous teammate Michael Schumacher, is not so sure the team's progress will be enough to close the gap to the pacesetters entirely.
"The gap we are closing is of course fairy big," said Rosberg. "It will take time and I don't know how much. Perhaps at the beginning of next season we will be close.
"We will have to see, it is difficult to predict. What is definite is that we will look better than this year," he insisted.
Speaking of Schumacher's trouble adjusting, Niki Lauda, comparing the return to his own comeback in the 80s, told Spain's El Pais newspaper: "In my second phase in F1, the testing was not limited so I had plenty of mileage to prepare.
"Michael has been against a lot of young guys eager to prove they can beat him, including Rosberg who is really fast. 2010 was a year of practice for him (Schumacher).
"At first I thought he would not take more than four races to be back, and winning races has never been easy, but now it is harder than ever before. Anyway, if anyone can do what he has to do, it's him," said the Austrian.
Meanwhile, team principal Ross Brawn believes that the lack of a top driver simulator contributed to Schumacher's struggle in 2010. A fully state-of-the-art simulator will not be available to the team's drivers until 2012.
Before then, Schumacher is hoping the switch from Bridgestone to Pirelli tyres for 2011 will help him, even though in his first F1 career, the German was regularly able to make the most of any technical package.
"The change to Pirelli will be similar [to the Bridgestone change a couple of years ago] and whether it plays into the hands of Rosberg or Schumacher is difficult to predict," Brawn concluded.
Nico Rosberg is confident of a more successful season for Mercedes in 2011, but more than 70 per cent of those surveyed by the major German news agency SID do not believe Michael Schumacher will win an eighth world title in 2011.
The 25-year-old German Rosberg, who this year finished 70 points ahead of his famous teammate Michael Schumacher, is not so sure the team's progress will be enough to close the gap to the pacesetters entirely.
"The gap we are closing is of course fairy big," said Rosberg. "It will take time and I don't know how much. Perhaps at the beginning of next season we will be close.
"We will have to see, it is difficult to predict. What is definite is that we will look better than this year," he insisted.
Speaking of Schumacher's trouble adjusting, Niki Lauda, comparing the return to his own comeback in the 80s, told Spain's El Pais newspaper: "In my second phase in F1, the testing was not limited so I had plenty of mileage to prepare.
"Michael has been against a lot of young guys eager to prove they can beat him, including Rosberg who is really fast. 2010 was a year of practice for him (Schumacher).
"At first I thought he would not take more than four races to be back, and winning races has never been easy, but now it is harder than ever before. Anyway, if anyone can do what he has to do, it's him," said the Austrian.
Meanwhile, team principal Ross Brawn believes that the lack of a top driver simulator contributed to Schumacher's struggle in 2010. A fully state-of-the-art simulator will not be available to the team's drivers until 2012.
Before then, Schumacher is hoping the switch from Bridgestone to Pirelli tyres for 2011 will help him, even though in his first F1 career, the German was regularly able to make the most of any technical package.
"The change to Pirelli will be similar [to the Bridgestone change a couple of years ago] and whether it plays into the hands of Rosberg or Schumacher is difficult to predict," Brawn concluded.